Backwards Fairytale
by Banira
Summary: Sakura Haruno has a bad life in Konoha, wishing her life was a fairytale. So when the Aotsuki, the sister organization of the Akatsuki, recruit her, her backwards fairytale begins. When she meets the Akatsuki will she find her prince?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters except Riza, Hotaru, and Madoka.**

**This is the rewrite of the original prologue, of which I'm extremely glad I rewrote. **

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Life completely and utterly was miserable to nineteen-year-old Haruno Sakura. Although Tsunade, the famed fifth Hokage of Konohagakure, had become her mentor, it seemed as if she had become invisible. She was strong, that being proven when she was destroyed mountains and forest in a single swipe. Few could actually prove a challenge to the young kunoichi, and yet this went unacknowledged.

Could she still be in her teammates' shadows? Of course, she had no demon, she had no bloodline, and she certainly did not have a gift from a dead friend allowing her the great powers belonging to another clan. In all of their glory, she had been cast aside as if she were really only there to have enough people. She wouldn't be surprised if one hundred years from now she went down as the unidentified member of the famous Team Seven.

Of course, the girl had no love life. The few boys from the hospital did not qualify in her book, they never lasted more than a week. Somehow her rival in everything had finally gotten the one thing she had thought, or really more of lying to herself to believe that she did, wanted most. Uchiha Sasuke, the lone survivor of the Uchiha massacre and traitor of Konohagakure had returned to his home village and taken Ino as his bride.

For years and years, Sakura had believed she was going to win over the Uchiha. It only made sense she was upset when she had realized she'd lost. Although, as time went on, she realized that maybe her feelings for him weren't quite as strong as she had believed. She came to realize, Sasuke wasn't really all that great if he was going to choose Ino over her.

The Yamanaka heiress, as to be expected, had just loved to flaunt her prize to Sakura. A few discreetly discriminating comments here and there, little actions with the Uchiha; those were all it took to send sparks into her forest green eyes. And Ino knew it. Few of her friends tried to make it better, seeing as most were overwhelmed by the avenger's return. Sakura only told them she'd be fine, which in reality she was half lying. She knew she would be able to move on someday, it was just hard at the time being.

That did not change the fact she felt like ripping that pig's vocal chords out.

She sighed irritably as she flopped down on her wine colored bed. Her face immediately dived into the softness of the pillow as her screaming muscles relaxed. While she had just saved the lives of an entire ANBU team in the surgery room, everyone else was celebrating the news of the engagement between Sasuke and Ino. Mentally, she told herself they were all just fools.

The pinkette wriggled around in her bed anxiously, the affair bleached into her mind. With a cross between a groan and a scream, she jumped up and attacked the second drawer of her cherry wood nightstand. In what seemed only a second, she managed to unwrap and chomp off a chunk off an innocent chocolate bar. It was her comfort food, as it was all women's.

As she savored the chocolate, she let herself fall back onto her bed. Her house had been empty for a while, she pondered, after bandits had killed her parents. She had come home to a too quiet house only to reveal the slaughtered corpses of her mother and father. At the time she had been able to confide in Tenten, the astute weapon mistress, and Lee, the expert Taijutsu specialist. Just to add to her luck, Sound had managed to kill off her dear friends as well. Without Lee and Tenten, Sakura had been left with nowhere to turn.

She closed her eyes starting to drift off as she thought, '_Maybe my life is a fairytale, where the maiden gets her heart broken by her love and neglected by her village. Then one day her one true love, her prince, will come and rescue her from the dreadful village. He'll scoop her up in his arms and kiss her passionately as he carries her off to his kingdom where they live happily ever after.' _

Yeah, she wished.

If only Sakura knew. Her story was definitely not a pleasant fairytale. If only she knew, stories aren't that simple. She forgot that people put conflicts in stories to make them interesting, so people would want to read them. The hero faces beasts, and dragons, and evil villains. A story is no fun without conflicts the characters must overcome. The drama, suspense, that's what makes a story good.

If only she knew that her story would be the best of all.

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**This has been looked over by my wonderful beta Hikari Adams. Thanks go to her!! **

**If you liked the rewrite go ahead and leave a review!! **

**-Banira**


	2. Aotsuki

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**I really am bad at fight scenes; so bear with me! I hope it's still okay.**

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The next morning she had off. She decided to train like always. Walking down the street she heard the annoying giggling of Ino. Ino saw Sakura talked louder, "The wedding's going to be so romantic." The girls surrounding her giggled some more. Sakura wanted to wipe the little smug look Ino had off her face. '_You just got to make my life even more of a hell than it is.'_

She silently continued to the training field with only the sounds of the summer cicadas as her company. She practiced tijutsu with a clone then practiced her super-human-strength. There was a game she liked to play deep in the forest that Tsunade banned called 'See-how-many-trees-I-can-knock-down-in-one-punch'. She broke her record of forty by five. By the time she was done demolishing the landscape the sun was setting. She lied under a tree cooling off.

She pondered about her life once again. She had just trained her butt off; she had better be getting stronger. Sasuke and Naruto were so far ahead, but she wouldn't lose to them.

She was quite relaxed but didn't fail to notice someone watching her. She tensed and got into a defensive position. Even though the chakra was hidden, she could tell they were strong, maybe S-Class. Looking around she said "Whoever you are come out now."

There was a laughing sound as a girl about her age came out. She had dark, golden hair down to her shoulders, her side bangs being held by hair senbons on the back of her head. Her face had a smile plastered on and freckles on her nose with blue shining eyes. She wore a black yukata like outfit with blue moons which went down mid-thigh. Her obi was blue and her sleeves were gypsy-style and white. On her left ankle were black beads and one yellow one with the kanji for 'summer'.

"Hello, Haruno Sakura correct?" she had an enthusiastic voice. Sakura didn't trust her but nodded, "And who would you be?"

"I'm Riza, I saw you training, and you're very strong. Would you like spar?"

She knew that she could be a threat since she wore no Konoha hiate so she politely refused, getting ready to fight if she had too.

"Oh, come on I would like to test your power myself, I've heard so much about you." She chided.

Sakura was unsure but figured it wouldn't hurt. "I guess"

Riza smiled, "No holding back 'kay?" Sakura nodded and Riza was gone.

Sakura couldn't sense her chakra and suddenly a senbon whizzed past her head. Normally a ninja wouldn't be able to pinpoint where that came from because of the skill that it had been thrown; but not Sakura. She ran to a tree a punched it with chakra causing it to shatter as Riza flipped out.

Riza then ran at Sakura and tried to kick her but was blocked with one of Sakura's own. She then surprised Riza by not aiming for her with the blocking kick, but at the ground. She created a crater throwing Riza back. Riza got up and removed her hair senbons while grinning. "You're good Sakura-chan, I usually never have to take out my hair senbons, but I have to end this."

She ran at her with a thick hair senbon in each hand. They blocked each other's punches and kicks for awhile until Riza added chakra to her senbon and jabbed a few of her pressure points wearing her down, it was sort of like the Hyuuga's. Then she applied a senbon on Sakura's neck coursing chakra through her body, effectively knocking her out.

The last thing she saw was Riza's sympathetic smile and heard a quick sorry before it went black.

Sakura awoke in a place she didn't know. Her head and neck were really sore. She applied chakra to lessen the pain. There were footsteps and Sakura could tell she was not alone. She opened her eyes to look around the dark room as she laid on the cold ground. She knew she should not have trusted Riza but she always made stupid mistakes.

She realized she was surrounded by Riza and three other girls she didn't know. They all wore the same outfit and had black beads with different kanji's on their wrists or ankles, and one had one on her neck.

"Haruno Sakura," the lady with the beads around her neck and blue kanji for 'moon' spoke. She had a white mask but visible chocolate brown hair. Her voice was wise and full of authority "I welcome you to the Aoitsuki, the sister organization of Akatsuki."

Just at the mention of Akatsuki she felt a jolt of fear. They were the people who wanted to take the Kyuubi from Naruto.

"As I'm sure you know, Akatsuki is collecting the tailed demons, we are assisting them as partners. We have beads like they do rings, which are very important for sealing a demon."

Sakura realized if theses women were associated with the Akatsuki they were powerful, and not to be taken lightly. She examined the dark room once more only to see one door. Her odds of escaping were seven to one. Since she had only sparred with Riza, along with the fact Riza had been able to knock her out and she did not know the power of the other three, her odds of escaping were then reduced to ten to one.

"Aoitsuki, what do want with me?" Sakura bit out. The woman chuckled "We've been watching you for quite sometime. You're a suitable member, we need a medic."

"And if I decline,"

"We kill you."

"Why would I join and betray my village." she paused. "Why me, there are stronger kunoichis." She whispered the last part.

"Sakura dear, you're underestimating yourself. We know you have surpassed Tsunade. You're their best medic and an ANBU. We also know you hate it there, the man you love is getting married to your rival, the village doesn't acknowledge you, and most of all you seek power. Sakura, join us we can give you power."

"I don't know"

Could she really betray the place where she grew up as well as turn against it? The Akatsuki were cold-blooded killers, so why wouldn't these people also be killers. She swore loyalty to Konoha, she couldn't just join killers. But aren't all ninja killers? No, these people killed for themselves, enjoyment.

If she did join she could be stronger, stronger than Sasuke and Naruto. She could show the whole village. She wanted, no, needed power for her to be happy.

Sakura's eyes clouded. "You know I'm right. Leave the dreaded village, start a new life."

_Maybe my life is a fairytale._

_Rescue her from the dreadful village_

_Happily ever after…_

_Happily…power…fairytale…happily ever after_

Happily ever after, that's all she's ever wanted. So what if she betrays her village, everyone else got their happily ever after, shouldn't she? She had no reason to stay. She was right no cared about her. Her parents died years ago and her friends didn't care.

"I-I accept."

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**This is the first chapter of Backwards Fairytale! Aotsuki means Blue Moon. Riza will be more in character later on.**

**Faye Zepher:** Thanks for reviewing! When i say backwards i'm refering to the fact instead of her 'prince' defeating her enemies, she joins them and some other things i can't say do to spoilers. Eh, it'll be explained a little later on.

**xcorezombie ffd: **thanks i'm glad you like it!

**FakeCompassion:** Thanks, i have the next chapter written out and i just couldn't resist posting this one tonight :)

**Kitsune of the fire rose: **Thank you i'll try to update when ever i can!

**xxxsakuraxxx:** thank you for the compliment! My teachers say i have good writing skills i just talk to fast if its an oral report, ha ha. I try my best.

Till next time -ChocolateChan


	3. A New Start

**Disclaimer: i do not own Naruto.**

**It's not that i don't like Ino, she just seemed like the best person to put in that role because of Sakura and her past. It's sorta funny, in another story i have on my computer when ino died sakura was upset and left because Ino was her best friend. So just to let you all know i'm not trying to bash any characters except Sasuke. You could say because of what he's done in the story i'm sorta PO'd at him. **

"_I-I accept."_

"Good choice. I'm sorry we forgot introductions, I'm known as Mistress. You already met Riza," The hyper girl laughed, "Hello again, and sorry for knocking you out."

Sakura could tell Riza was very skilled but still light-hearted. Is there such a thing as a light-hearted killer?

"That's okay I guess, nice spar." Sakura smiled.

Mistress directed towards the dark girl "This is Madoka," Madoka nodded towards her. She was pale with black hair that reached her mid-back and black eyes. She had a calm, emotionless look. Her left sleeve was cut to her forearm to show the calm member's bracelet. She had a white bead with the kanji for 'winter'.

Riza leaned over to Sakura and whispered, "She doesn't talk much, but she's not mean. Her attack's awesome; she uses light as a weapon!" Sakura figured she'd have to see her fight.

"This is Hotaru" Hotaru was small, she looked around the age of thirteen. The little girl had the look of innocence. Her hair was a bronze color that was in two short pigtails. She had a small sweet smile like a child. Her eyes are what Sakura guessed she was named for, they looked like the glow of fireflies, like her name. Her right sleeve was like Madoka's left. Her bead was orange with the kanji for 'autumn'.

"Hello Hotaru-san."

"Hello Sakura-san," her voice was sweet and it made you want to protect her.

"She's Hotaru of the Omoide clan. She's the youngest member, she's twelve. Her clan was wiped out do to a schism then civil war. Her bloodline gives her, her pretty eyes. She can see people's emotions and memories when activated, very useful." Riza whispered and nodded knowingly-like.

They turned their attention back to mistress. "You are now the last member so now we will pair off for missions." The girls waited for her to answer as she thought.

"Hotaru and Madoka, and then Sakura and Riza will be partners. Here Sakura," she handed the new member an outfit and black beads with one pink one with the kanji for 'spring'. How ironic. "It goes on your right ankle. Oh, and don't wear your hiate anymore. Okay I have nothing else for you, go do whatever." Mistress said lazily. Our pink-haired medic sweat-dropped, her new leader was just like her former shishou.

Then she was surprised as her new partner jumped on her "Yay, I'm with Sakura-chan! We're a lot like Akatsuki just with better fashion sense!" Sakura laughed; maybe this wouldn't be so bad she made a new friend already and the other members seemed nice, for killers anyway.

The remaining Rookie Nine all stood in the Hokage's office. They had been called to her office immediately, wondering what was so important to interrupt _the_ wedding plans. Tsunade stood firm in front of them with a solemn look.

"Tsunade-baa-chan, what's so important?" Naruto asked. The blonde jinchuriki was very caught up in Sasuke and was his best friend. He didn't pay much attention to Sakura anymore, his male teammate was more important, especially because his best friend was going to be married.

Tsunade sighed and sat down at her cluttered desk, resting her chin on her folded hands. "Sakura Haruno has seemed to have disappeared." She was then interrupted by a loud laugh.

"Ha, she was so jealous of me and _my _Sasuke-kun she ran away! It's about time she realized _I _am stronger, prettier, and the _best_ kunoichi." Ino boasted.

Tsunade's eye twitched, she never liked Ino. _No wonder Sakura left. I don't blame her, heck with this boasting pig I would too!_ She felt anger and a need to protect her student/daughter "Actually Ino, _Sakura_ was the strongest kunoichi in Konoha, she's surpassed me, she's probably─ no ─ definitely the best medic out there. She is a much better person than you; she never once bragged and she spent most of her time at the hospital even when she had the day off."

Ino opened her mouth to comment but Tsunade didn't let her. "She's been through more than she lets on; did anyone know her parents were killed when she was 17?" No one said anything just stared wide eyed. Tsunade continued, "She once told me that her friends she could always rely on were Ten-Ten and Lee, but now they're gone. She had no one to confine in, acknowledge her strength, or even be with her." Her voice rose.

"That's not true I was Sakura-chan's best friend. It's not our fault she was jealous of Ino-chan." Naruto cut in.

"You do not even have the right to call her Sakura-chan! When was the last time you, Naruto, were there for her?" Tsunade yelled.

Naruto didn't answer, just had the look of a little kid who was caught stealing cookies before dinner.

"And for all of you to think Sakura left because she was jealous of Ino is disgustingly low! She's probably left because she had no one! No one paid attention to her and everyone thought badly of her!" she yelled in one breath.

Shizune tried to calm her down. She was sad about Sakura leaving too. The younger medic was like her little sister.

"Tsunade-sama, you forgot to tell them the other reason you called them here." Shizune frantically tried to cool Tsunade's rising temper.

The golden-eyed woman sighed, truing to vent out her frustration and anger. "Yes, there have been reports of a group of females who wear black yukatas with blue moons. Rumor has it they are called Aoitsuki, the sister organization of the Akatsuki."

Everyone's eyes widened. "Baa-chan, does this have anything to do with Sakura-ch─ Sakura's disappearance?" Naruto asked, refraining himself from saying 'Sakura-chan'.

"Yes, it might. The other kages have informed me to stay on guard of this group. They have apparently been seen assonating random people, most likely from a hit list, and stealing scrolls and jutsus. Also, they have been spotted around Konoha."

"So, you think they have taken her? It would make sense with her healing abilities. If an enemy had that kind of healing powers on their side, they'd be unstoppable. This is so troublesome." Shikamaru explained lazily.

"Exactly, but we are not completely sure she has joined them, but the chances are good. Until we have proof she is a threat to the village or does not return in a month we will not send ANBU after her. You may now leave." Tsunade concluded.

While leaving, a certain blonde hair boy thought about the events of the past few days. _Sakura, I really haven't been here when you need me, I had only paid attention to Sasuke. How could I even think that bad of you? I'm so sorry_ _Sakura. _

His path unconsciously led him to the team seven training grounds. Remembering all the memories they had here, he clenched his fist and shut his eyes to stop the tears. _I told you I would always protect you, I've failed you now. Please forgive me. All I can do now is hope you are okay and happier than you were here, even if you're working against me._

Naruto felt moist tears run down his face and hit the grass, splashing silently. _I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan. _

The rest of the day Riza showed Sakura around. The base was a mansion; literally.

Her room was quite impressive. It had a red king sized bed, bigger than she needed. The room's walls were also red; like the color of blood. The dresser was cherry wood with a large mirror across from the bed. It even had a balcony! She was on the third floor so the view was nice, it was of the forest. Her bathroom was made of all marble. It had one of those old, deep, Japanese wooden tubs then a sink with a huge mirror and of course a toilet.

"Wow..."

Her newfound friend laughed, "Yeah, I was shocked too. My room's the same 'cept in gold. Our money status is better than the Akatsuki's so we like to tease them. Not to mention Hotaru brought her entire inheritance from her clan. Damn they were rich!"

Sakura really like Riza and the others, she had fun then went to sleep in her very comfortable bed.

_Maybe this isn't the fairy tale I wanted but its better. I escaped the dreadful village and made real friends. Sort of ironic, I dreamed of my prince defeating the evil villains and I end up joining them. It's a backwards fairytale, yeah that's it, a backwards fairytale, and I like it this way. Now, where's my 'prince'?_

**Yay, the second chapter! Hotaru means firefly and Omoide means memories, Hotaru is based off of my sister, just more naive and she talks in third person like tobi. Naruto must have seemed really OOC, but if he were nice to Sakura she would have never joined, but now he is back in character because he realized his mistake.**

**Thank you to all my reviewers! I didn't think it would be so popular! I would love any constructive criticism! But i do have to ask if you review not to use strong language please. Till next chapter, **

**-Chocolate Chan**


	4. The beginning of a beautiful friendship

**I want to clear one thing up really quick. The whole Sasuke Ino thing is not really a pairing, everyone thought Ino's the strongest so he picked her wanting a strong heir. As for Ino she's caught up in lust and pride for winning the boy almost every girl wants. There will be more to it in later chapters. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters except Riza, Mistress, Hotaru, and Madoka**

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It had been a little more than a week since she's been here. She's been training with Riza and learning more about the organization more.

To say Sakura had a goodnight sleep would be an understatement. The rosette haired girl felt like she slept on a cloud. She groaned as the rays of sunlight shone through her window.

_Ten more minutes, I'll get up in ten minutes; okay maybe twenty._

The sleepy girl was then felt her sleep disturbed by something constantly poking her side. Poke-poke, "Sakura-chan," a rather hyper voice whispered. She tried to ignore it but the poking didn't stop.

She groaned and opened her eyes to a smiling Riza. "It's about time you get up; Hotaru-chan's making breakfast. Hotaru's like the bestest cook in the world!" She exclaimed with anime-sparkly-eyes. Sakura sweat-dropped, "How are you so optimistic in the morning? And you do know 'bestest' is not a word."

The golden-blonde pouted while playing with the senbon in her hair. "Mou, Sakura-chan you're no fun in the morning. Anywho, you need to put on your uniform, I'll meet you in the kitchen!" She then ran out of the room before the half-awake girl could respond. She then reluctantly got out of bed and took a bath, then put on her new clothes.

The person she saw in the mirror was different then what she was used to seeing. This person had more vibrancy in her emerald eyes and a lighter gaze. The outfit looked good on her; neither of her sleeves was cut because her beads were on her right ankle.

It took her a few minutes, but she found her way to the kitchen where Riza was anxiously waiting for her food. Madoka sat there patiently as Hotaru was setting breakfast on four plates. "Good morning Sakura-san." Madoka smiled politely. "Good morning" Sakura smiled back and sat next to Riza.

The girls were sitting at a wooden circular table. The kitchen too, was very exquisite. The floors were hardwood and the cupboards and drawers were all wooded. It had a nice stove and oven with a widow above the counter.

Hotaru set the plates on the table and sat down. "Here's your food, Hotaru hopes she did a good job!" The little girl said.

"Yay, arigatou Hotaru-chan" Riza dug in. "Hotaru-chan, I love you!" she hugged Hotaru, "Hotaru is glad Riza-neechan likes the food!" she chirped.

Riza sat back down and scratched the back of her neck. "Oh, Sakura-Chan, Mistress-sama said we've got a mission in lightning." Riza pulled out a scroll, acting serious. Sakura looked at her partner; did she have multiple personality disorder?

Riza handed the scroll to her as Madoka left to do whatever she does and Hotaru cleaned up. "Our mission is to steal some scrolls with some of the village's most powerful jutsus. It won't take to long."

"Ne, Riza, where are we?" Sakura asked.

The blonde sheepishly grinned "Sorry, I forgot to tell you. We're in Grass." Sakura's eyes widened, they were a long way from Konoha.

"Anywho, you really don't need to pack anything except weapons and your medical stuffs." Riza shrugged and walked out of the room, leaving Sakura in complete silence.

"Meet me outside in a half hour!" She heard Riza scream. So much for silence. She sighed and packed all her necessities. A half an hour later she met Riza outside.

"Ready to go" Riza asked grinning. Sakura nodded.

As they were running, or more like jumping from branch to branch, Riza spoke up. "I'm so excited! This is our first mission together Sakura-chan!" Sakura smiled at her optimistic mood "Yeah, I guess it is exciting."

They reached the village by nightfall, which was perfect timing due to it being easier to get away in the dark. "Let's make this quick, remember to hide your chakra." Riza whispered and Sakura nodded back. They jumped up on to the kage's office roof and swiftly opened the window. Inside, they went to the desk and found a drawer with a sealing jutsu.

"I'm guessing this would be it. But it's too easy." Sakura examined it.

"This is one of the most powerful sealing techniques. If we do manage to get the seal off it alerts ANBU right away." Riza replied stoically. Sakura gave a weird look to why she knew this. Her comrade laughed, "It may not seem like it but I'm considered to be pretty intelligent, I know hard to believe right? We can get to know each other better later."

Sakura was a little startled but nonetheless agreed "Hai." It was a little hard to believe the same girl she met was this intelligent serious Riza, but she shook it off.

They did some evaluating then Riza found a jutsu to remove the seal. "Okay right after I perform the jutsu, open the drawer and take the scrolls." Riza explained.

Sakura looked skeptical "Are we going to have to fight?" Riza looked up, "Most likely; oh get ready." She performed the seals and as she instructed, Sakura took the scrolls.

"Now what"

"Run like heck"

And that they did. Without making a mistake the medic and senbon user got out the window and began running on roof tops. They could sense strong chakra signatures coming their way a minute afterwards. As the girls got to the gate, they found ten ANBU waiting for them. Riza stared blankly, "Dang, they're good."

One with a raccoon mask stepped forward, "Give up the scrolls now and surrender or we'll be forced to fight."

"We'd rather fight." Sakura grinned. "Very well" the ANBU responded.

Before the ANBU even had a chance to move, three had a senbon in each of their vital points on their neck, courtesy of Riza. Riza ran behind another two and just knocked them out while Sakura was exchanging punches and kicks with their leader.

The raccoon-masked Anbu threw a punch at her and seeing this as an opportunity, the medic grabbed his fist. She then performed a medical jutsu, placing her palm on his stomach effectively destroying his internal organs. He doubled over as the mask fell off and coughed up blood, then fell over dead.

Riza had been playing with two others, then seeing Sakura killed their leader, quickly sliced their necks. The remaining two ran at the Aoitsuki members. Before either of them could land a hit, Sakura dashed forward and brutally punched one in the stomach. The snake masked ANBU hunched over and coughed up a little blood as the one in the mouse mask ran to them, "Kotetsu-kun!" the person screamed confirming it's a girl. "Are you okay? I'll heal you!" she tried healing him, but was shooed away.

Just as Sakura was about to attack Riza held her back, "No, don't, this is better than my romance books." Sakura gave her a quizzical look, "You read romance books, and you don't want to attack our _enemy_ because you think their drama is amusing?"

Riza scratched the back of her neck "Hey, what can I say, I'm a sap for romances."

"Nezumi, stop it. The enemy is still here, get up and fight!" the one apparently called Kotetsu struggled to get up.

The girls just amusedly watched the drama. "Wow, this is good." Sakura mused, "But I can make it better." Sakura smirked. Riza caught on and went behind the worried girl and held her in place. "Ahh! Let go of me!" Nezumi struggled but could not get out of the Aoitsuki member's grip.

"Nezumi-chan!" the snake Anbu shouted as Sakura approached him. "Now, now you should be more worried about yourself, lover-boy." He growled and threw shuriken at Sakura, who managed to avoid all but one that grazed her cheek. She scowled and healed the cut effortlessly. "Nice try" she disappeared. "Wha─" he was cut off by Sakura landing a kunai straight into his spinal cord.

"Kotetsu-kun!" the mouse girl screamed.

"Girlie, you're an Anbu. You are not to show emotion, it is one of the biggest mistakes you can make on the battle field, believe me, I know. Also, I take it you're a medic too. Go ahead and heal him, he's paralyzed." Sakura lectured the scared girl.

Riza loosened her grip and the girl pushed forward, landing next to her lover. "We'll leave you two now. Don't worry even a mediocre medic can heal him, he'll stay alive; oh, and thanks for the scrolls."

The girls then ran through the forest, leaving the distressed girl behind. They ran for a few hours, both getting tired. Sakura felt her legs getting heavy but then felt relief as their base came into sight.

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As they entered the mansion, they saw two other people in the sitting room conversing with Mistress. 

Sakura recognized the two men, they were the ones she had dreaded seeing. Both had black cloaks with red clouds. One had blonde hair tied up with hair covering his left eye. He had unusual mouths on his hands. She remembered he had been the one to capture Gaara. It was Deidara, missing-nin of Iwa.

The other one made her blood run cold. He was very handsome; his black hair was tied in a ponytail at the bottom of his neck and had distinctive lines on his face, but he had an emotionless look. She also knew this man, the man who killed his own clan, the man who scorned his brother to revenge, and the man who almost succeeded in killing Naruto. Emerald eyes met scarlet.

The moment their eyes met Sakura saw void and no emotion whatsoever in his eyes. However, the scarlet eyes seemed to look right through her, seeing her uneasiness and fear. This man was Uchiha Itachi.

"Alright we're all done here." Mistress said breaking the silence. Deidara took notice of the girls, "Hello Riza, and you're the girl who killed Sasori-Danna, finally joined us huh, un?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm Sakura. Sorry about killing your partner." Sakura awkwardly said trying to hide behind Riza. Deidara chuckled as Itachi watched indifferently. "That's okay, you expect your comrades to die in the life of a shinobi, not to mention missing-nin. Good to have your power on the winning side."

Riza grinned "Sakura-chan's my partner now!"

"So with Sakura's freaky-strength and your hyperness you're the dynamic duo?" Deidara raised an eyebrow. "Yup!" the female blonde chirped, not taking her eyes of Deidara.

"Deidara, we need to leave." Itachi stated blankly.

Deidara nodded, "Bye Riza, Sakura." Itachi nodded his head in acknowledgement to the girls and they just left.

"Mistress-sama mission complete." Riza handed her the scrolls once again breaking the silence. "Thank you; you don't have any missions tomorrow."

They nodded and as Sakura was leaving towards her room her blonde friend pulled her toward her own room. "I told you we'd get to know each other better later." she smiled.

She led her into the golden room and got out two sets of sleep wear. "You can use my pajamas tonight!" Riza handed her black sweatpants and a white T-shirt while she got dressed into a pair of grey sweatpants and black tank top.

They both sat on top of the bed with only a lamp on as their light.

"What was Deidara doing with Itachi; I thought his partner was Kisame." Sakura asked. "Oh, well since Itachi and Kisame couldn't capture the Kyuubi, they were paired up with people who already caught a biju. Itachi's with Deidara and Kisame's with Tobi, Itachi still has to catch the Kyuubi though."

"I think we should learn more about each other."

"Okay" Sakura agreed; she didn't know that much about her partner.

"Alright, I'll go first. Obviously my name is Riza. I like chocolate and use senbons as my weapons. I helped strategize the make-up of the Aoitsuki, I'm the Aoitsuki's strategist, Hotaru is the interrogator with her bloodline and all, and Madoka gets whatever needs to be done, done. And now your our medic."

"Is that how you managed to get me to spar with you? You persuaded me right?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, I had planned that, I don't usually flatter people that much, but I wasn't acting when we became partners, it was exciting because I did know how strong you are." She laughed and Sakura grinned.

"Ano, if you don't mind me asking what you do before you joined the Aoitsuki?" Sakura saw her flinch and knew she was going into a sensitive area.

She spoke quietly, "Oh, well I don't have a last name 'cause both my parents were S-class criminals from Rock. They had taught me how to be a kunoichi until I was twelve, then we were attacked by some Anbu," she looked down and Sakura thought she saw something shiny run down the blondes face.

"They, my parents, just because they were criminals I knew it's not like they didn't love me, they died protecting me. I, my hair senbons were my mothers, she told me to try to be happy, make the best out of life. My father would always compliment on how intelligent I was and to this day I'm considered to be really smart. I miss my parents so much…"

"Riza," Sakura was astonished.

"It's okay to cry on my shoulder if you need to I know what its like to lose people. You were my first friend here and it was a little weird being around people who are supposed to be your enemy, but you helped me through it." The pink haired girl said softly to her friend.

"Sakura-Chan!" Riza hugged her and started crying while she soothingly rubbed her back. The teary-eyed blonde sat up and wiped her eyes. "Thanks, I really miss them; they're sort of hard to talk about."

"Riza, we've only known each other for a little while, how were you able to tell me something so deep already?" It's not that she didn't want to know, she was just surprised.

"We're partners now Sakura-chan, it's good if we can trust each other and know each other's strengths and weaknesses. Not to mention I do trust you, you're my friend, and I appreciate you being here for me when we don't really know each other."

"It's okay, that's what friends are for, real friends anyways." Sakura muttered. "I'm guessing your 'friends' weren't really friends, huh? I know about your past because Hotaru was sent to get information, but I don't what you felt."

"Well, it sucked, my only friends died and the rest wanted nothing to do with me, so yeah, I like better here."

"Let's talk about happier matters, shall we?" Riza laughed trying to change the subject. "Yeah,"

"What about the guys in the Akatsuki, if you ask me some of them are pretty cute, like Deidara." The once again cheery blonde giggled.

"Yeah, I guess so but I have seen better." Sakura shrugged.

"Oh no way! I would have thought you'd be after Itachi, he's very handsome; but I still like Deidara better of course."

"First of all, Itachi is like a human ice block, even though I will admit he is definitely the best looking guy I've ever seen. Second of all, do you have some kind of Deidara complex or you do like him maybe?" she smirked slyly as Riza turned the color of Sakura's hair.

"I─I don't like Deidara, he's just really cute!" she waved her hands. Her friend only laughed at her reaction, "So you already know him."

"Yeah, we are the _sister_ organization of the Akatsuki, I've sparred with him and talked to him. It's so cute how he says 'un' after his sentences." Riza gushed. Sakura raised an eyebrow "And you _don't_ like him?"

"I do not like him, gosh!" she huffed and they both laughed.

The rest of the night they stayed up talking about random things from boys to weapons, like ordinary best friends. Eventually they both passed out around eight am.

Sakura's last thoughts before she went to sleep were pleasant.

_I feel so excepted now, Riza's one of the best friends I've ever had. Ten-Ten, you would have liked her. A true friend, it feels so nice to have someone to confine in again. My life is slowly getting better, even though I still would like a prince. Maybe Itachi will do, he's definitely handsome enough. Ha, that couldn't happen, but for now I'm content._

**

* * *

****Sorry if its a little dramatic at the end, but they needed to get to know each other because of convienece on the battlefield. I tried to make it a little longer . All mistakes in Riza's dialouge is intentional.**

**Again thank you for all the reviews! I really appreciate them and i'm glad you like the story! So till next time,**

** Chocolate Chan**


	5. Retrieving Sakura

**Disclaimer: i do not own Naruto.**

**I went ahead and changed Madoka's attack. Now she controls light because it is more convienent for me. Sorry for the long wait i went on vacation and just got back. And yes this chapter may be a bit rushed but the next chapter is where the story picks up. So enjoy!**

* * *

"Are you sure it's her?" A dark haired woman asked. 

"No other kunoichis have pink hair Shizune, she joined them." A much older blond sighed as she put down the scroll. "Call in Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Neji."

"Why not Naruto?" the Hokage looked at her apprentice wryly "This group is partnered with the Akatsuki. Sending Naruto would be like handing over the Kyuubi." Shizune nodded and sent for the requested shinobi.

A while later they arrived. "One week ago Haruno Sakura was reported missing. I have just received news from Lightning that many of their most important scrolls were stolen as well as several of their Anbu killed. Two of the Anbu were left alive and reported that their attackers wore the description of the Aoitsuki. Particularly one had _pink_ hair."

"She did join them." Neji stated.

"Yes, and I am sending you to retrieve her." Tsunade explained "We have word they were heading towards Grass. You will leave tomorrow morning."

They all agreed and left. Tsunade rested her head on her folded hands and once again sighed.

"Sakura, what have you gotten yourself into?"

* * *

It was breakfast at the Aoitsuki base and the members were all eating a meal Hotaru prepared before she left for a meeting with Mistress. "Where is Mistress-sama, I rarely ever see her." The Aoitsuki medic asked. 

"She always disappears; right now she's at the Akatsuki with Hotaru-chan. When they come back we'll probably have some big mission." Riza explained and ate the rest of her food. "I'm going to go read my romance books." The blond left to finish her reading, Sakura always wondered why her partner was so addicted to romances.

Her attention was then turned to the other person at the table. "Sakura-san, I haven't gotten to see you fight." Madoka smiled at the pink haired girl. "Um, would you want to spar? I haven't gotten to see you in action either." Sakura suggested as she finished up the delicious breakfast made by Hotaru.

"Yes I would, the training field is out through the hallway that leads to the kitchen. I'll meet you out there when you are finished." She said and left for the training field.

The other member just shrugged and continued to nibble on her toast. She's finally going to be able to see what Riza meant about her attack. Somehow she had a feeling today would be an interesting day.

Sakura maneuvered her self through the mansion getting lost several times. While she was walking she mumbled something about too many doors and the house is too big. Eventually she did get to the training field to see her dark haired companion waiting for her.

"Sorry, I still don't know my way around the base." Sakura said sheepishly. Madoka laughed softly, "That's alright I just now seemed to have figured out the base. Anyways, shall we get started?"

The other girl nodded and they got into a fighting stance. Sakura started off by simply throwing some shuriken. Madoka quickly did some hand seals and a flash of light appear then formed into what looked like a glowing whip. She quickly deflected the shuriken with her 'light whip'.

Sakura raised an eye brow. "So this is what Riza meant." The light controlling girl swung her whip around skillfully "Yes, my kekkei genkai allows me to give mass to light, I am able to form it into whatever I want, which is usually my whip."

Madoka then slashed her whip at Sakura as she blocked with her arm. Sakura winced as she felt the sting of the attack, defending would be hard against this weapon. The rosette charged forward, swinging chakra-infused punches while attempting to avoid the lashes of the whip. She noticed she was beginning to get bruises on her arms, and they hurt.

Suddenly the whip of light wrapped around her fist that would have hit the other girl. Sakura was thrown to the ground and felt a jolt of pain on the shoulder that she landed on. Great, she pulled it out of socket. Struggling to stand, she held her injured arm and a sickening pop was heard as she put it back into place, as she restrained from letting out a scream of pain.

Sakura then punched the ground, causing a tremor to shoot forward towards her opponent. The dark haired girl gasped at her brute strength and jumped up, only to have Sakura run behind her and kick her down to the ground. As the dust cleared and Madoka was lying in a small crater. She managed to get up and Sakura healed her wounds.

"That was quite amazing. Thank you for healing me."

"Thanks, you put up a good fight." The medic grinned as she healed her own wounds.

"Sakura-chan, Madoka-chan! There's enemy shinobi here!" Riza came out and shouted.

"Enemy shinobi? Madoka-san, are you able to fight?" Sakura asked. "Yes, I'll be fine, it was only spar." The girls followed Riza to another section of the forest. Sakura then heard a familiar voice.

"It's nice to see you again, _Sakura_."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at them. "I really can't say the same." In front of her stood Sasuke, Neji, and Shikamaru "Don't you have a wedding to plan?" The Hyuuga spoke up "We are to return you to Konoha, Haruno-san."

"You're not getting Sakura-chan." Her blond friend said determined. "We're her friends now; all you did was make her miserable."

"Believe it or not you are actually a threat. You are returning with us." Sasuke spoke monotonously. "And I say no" Sakura responded coldly. "Well then we will have to take you back by force." Sasuke replied swiftly and activated his Sharingan.

Madoka created her light whip and prepared to fight as well as Sakura and Riza did. Shikamaru seemed to take interest in the dark haired girl "You control light; this is going to be so troublesome." Madoka ran at him trying to wrap him up in her whip, but failed to notice he captured her in his shadow possession jutsu already. "Ah, so you control shadows. How interesting, it seems we are complete opposites."

Shikamaru slowly started walking towards her, which in turn made her walk towards him. Suddenly Riza screamed at Madoka "Release the light!" The light controller complied and let the whip of light disappear. When she deactivated her kekkei genkai though, the light spread out, shining on the genius's shadow and releasing his hold.

Meanwhile, Sakura and Riza were avoiding kicks and punches from Neji and Sasuke. The Hyuuga did manage to land a hit on Sakura and briefly closed off the chakra in her right arm. "Enough of this," the pink haired girl said and punched Neji with her good arm through a few trees, then assisted Riza with Sasuke.

The Uchiha was managing to hit Riza while she fought back with her senbons. He blocked one of her strikes, knocking her to the ground when he was then hit to the ground himself.

Shikamaru had still been fighting with Madoka. He used her example before to cover her light with shadows, thus making her weapon disappear. Either way, they countered each others light and shadows, so they resolved to hand-to-hand combat and weapons. The shadow user looked at his teammates and thought; _we might not be able to hold out much longer. It'll be troublesome but we need to retreat. _

"Neji, Sasuke, we need to leave!" Shikamaru yelled. The other boys did not want to give up, but saw it was best and retreated with Shikamaru.

Riza slowly got up and grinned at her pink haired friend. "I told'ya they wouldn't take my friend away." Sakura smiled at her friends "Thank you"

"Yeah, sure thing…" Riza mumbled and fell forward. Sakura caught her realized she must be extremely exhausted. She saw Madoka walk towards her and they headed back into the base. They set Riza down on her bed while Sakura healed her injuries and then Madoka's. "Thank you Sakura-san."

"No need to thank me, you helped me a lot out there. And you can just call me Sakura." The medic finished up. "Alright then Sakura, we should all get some rest now." Madoka said and left for her own room.

Sakura looked at Riza's sleeping form. _Thank you for being here for me, for being my friend. I don't regret coming here at all now. Most of all I'm glad I met you, Riza-chan._

_

* * *

_

It had been a few days since the Konoha shinobi came to take Sakura. The girls had all rested up and were fine. Things were pretty boring around the base and Hotaru had not yet returned.

"I miss Hotaru-chan's cooking." Riza pouted. "You can try making something yourself." Her partner stated. Riza blinked and simply stated "I'm not allowed to."

"Why not" Sakura asked. "Because when I tried boiling water I almost burnt down the kitchen." Riza explained.

"Riza-chan, water can't burn."

"I know but I added some other things to help it boil fas─ you just called me Riza-chan!" She exclaimed. Sakura smiled, "Aren't best friends supposed to add 'chan'." Her best friend grinned "Yup, I'm glad I'm your best friend Sakura-chan!" The girls continued to chat when Hotaru ran in.

"Riza-neechan, Sakura-neesan! Hotaru just got really bad news from Mistress-sama!" the young girl yelled. "What is it Hotaru-chan." Riza asked.

"We have to move in with the Akatsuki!"

* * *

**Yes, its a cliffhanger! I had to add some Madoka because she doesn't really appear much. And to all the Itachi fangirls, you will get to see him next chapter! **

**As for Madoka's attack i hope it's not too confusing, i had made it up in science class when my teacher commented that light had no matter, so she gives it matter so it can hit people and stuffs. Her and Shikamaru's attacks cancel each other's out because her light gets rid of his shadow and his shadow covers her light giving her no light to control. Confused yet?**

**Again thank you for all the reviews! i had never thought it would be this popular which makes me happy you all are enjoying it! And i'm also sorry about the slow update.**

**Chocolate Chan**


	6. Akatsuki

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**I'm sorry about the long wait again!**

* * *

Two figures were somewhere unknown conversing. "Who's your strongest?" one asked. The other one thought for a moment "Most likely Itachi, Kisame, and Deidara." The first figure nodded. "Sakura and Riza are my strongest. Kisame is somewhere around thirty, and the girls are around nineteen, so he's out. Plus, I doubt they'll be too fond of him."

The second figured sighed, "Mistress, how many times do I have to tell you this is not based off looks but skills?" The figure that revealed to be Mistress responded "But the girls would have to like them somewhat, Leader-sama. Apparently Riza has taking a liking to Deidara"

Leader agreed with her, "That makes things easier. Just as long as we combine their skills, we need the strongest shinobi."

"Agreed"

* * *

"_We have to move in with the Akatsuki!"_

In that phrase time seemed to move slower for Sakura. It took a few seconds for it to register in the pink haired girl's head. Move in with them? These were the people who she considered cold blooded killers. She can't do that! Then again she was wrong about the Aoitsuki. No, the Akatsuki are obviously different.

"What?! I don't want to though! That means we have to leave our big expensive mansion. And put up with stupid guys!" Riza yelled.

"Uh, do we have to; I mean none of us want to, including me and all." Sakura said quietly, still in shock. Hotaru frowned, "It was Mistress-sama's orders, so we have to."

The senbon user sighed, "Yeah, it does make sense though, with the Kyuubi being the last biju." Sakura was very confused, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Riza sat crossed legged, holding her feet. "Well, you know how the Kyuubi is the strongest of the tailed beast? That means it's gonna be a pain in the neck to seal. That's where we come in, the Akatsuki don't necessarily need us to seal the beasts, but we're like back up, which they'll need. The beads go along with their rings but their extra, so basically to make sure they can control the Kyuubi when sealing it, we help them."

"Is that all the Akatsuki needs us for?" Sakura asked.

"Nope, you see, they have the task of collecting the tailed beasts. That's why we haven't gone after one. The Aoitsuki gains the jutsus and information as well as collect money so they can focus on collecting the biju. Are you still with me here?"

Sakura's confused expression was gone and she nodded. "Yeah, I understand. You're saying we need to combine the organizations more since the plans are coming to an end and that's when they need us, so we'll be ready to do our part."

Riza grinned and snapped her fingers "Exactly"

"Riza-neechan, Hotaru wants to know if we'll have to stay in their base, because don't they only meet up a few times a month?" The green-yellow eyed girl asked with her head tilted to one side.

Riza grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of her neck. "Honestly I don't know Hotaru-chan."

"Mistress-sama said we'll only have to stay at their base when we don't have a mission or if they need us there." A calm voice said.

All heads turned to the owner of the voice. "Madoka-chan, did you hear from Mistress-sama when we have to leave?"

"Unfortunately, we have to leave for their base in Rain tomorrow. We're packing up today."

Riza dropped her head "I hate my life." She fake cried. Hotaru patted her back, "It's okay Riza-neechan, Hotaru and Sakura-neesan and Madoka-neesan are here for you!" The blond brightened up "Yeah, we're gonna need to stick together."

"Well look at the bright side Riza-chan, you'll get to be around Deidara." Sakura giggled. She immediately turned the color of her friend's hair "I said I don't like him. Why would I like an Akatsuki?"

Obviously by her reactions she was lying. Her looking away and blushing gave it away, not to mention she denies it way too fast. Sakura grinned at her best friends crush. She could have some fun with this.

"Aw, you're blushing!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are you just won't admit it."

"Shut up"

The other girls laughed. Once again Riza hung down her head, "I feel so alone." They all laughed at her again. "You know Riza-chan; we'll let you join us if you admit you like Deidara." Sakura friendly teased the girl.

"Fin─ Sakura-chan!"

* * *

Sakura and the rest of the Aoitsuki sat at a long table in a dimly lit room. She was feeling rather uneasy. The reason being the other people in the room were the people who she feared greatly; the Akatsuki.

She observed the Akatsuki members, there were seven of them. She knew there used to be ten but Orochimaru left and was recently killed by Sasuke before he came back, Hidan and Kakuzu were killed by Shikamaru and Kakashi, while she had killed Sasori. Most of the members were very odd looking, and most had bloodlines. A few of the members, she admitted, were attractive, like Itachi, Deidara, and a member she did not know.

The Leader stood up as all eyes turned to him, "As you know our organizations are coming together. Since we are losing members, it would be better to have larger groups traveling together so that we will not be killed so easily."

Some eyes looked to Sakura. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She would probably not be too welcomed here, after all, she did kill one of their members. At one time she was very proud of that fact. But now, she had that feeling in the pit of her stomach she knew as guilt.

"The groups will be Itachi, Deidara," at this the blond Akatsuki let his head hit the table, "Sakura, and Riza. The next group shall be Zetsu, Tobi, Madoka, and Hotaru. The remaining members, Kisame and Hisoka will be partners."

The rosette's eyes widened. Itachi was on her team. How could she work with him when she's detested him all her life? At least she had Riza with her, she figured; otherwise she wouldn't know what she would do. Riza and Deidara on the same team, this will be quite interesting.

At the same time, Riza looked cool and collected on the outside, like she should be. Inside was a different story. She was cheering and panicking at the same time. Of course she was ecstatic she was with Deidara and her best friend, but what if she messed up or embarrassed herself in front of a certain someone. Itachi didn't really cross her mind at all, just that she would have fun watching Sakura try to associate with him.

Then Riza's calculating mind found a flaw. "If we need to be more widespread, then why would we not be in smaller groups so we can cover more area?" she asked.

"Your group will capture the Kyuubi while the others do other necessary things. There's less to be done since our plan is ending. If you were to be in pairs against Konoha, there is a good chance you will be killed, so some of our strongest need to capture the Kyuubi." Mistress explained.

"Itachi's group will be going to Konoha to capture the Kyuubi container. Konoha apparently is watching Naruto-kun closely because they don't want us to get the Kyuubi." Leader stated.

"Hai" they all agreed.

Sakura sat in her seat fidgeting. She knew she needed to give them more information on Konoha and Naruto, she was just still unsure about it. At this point she already betrayed her village, she needed to let go. Her decision was like choosing between the lesser of two evils. She found her courage after seconds of internal battling with her self on what was the right thing to do.

"They have plans for him as the next Hokage. He's going to be in another area training soon so that he will be able to be named Hokage in four months."

"Well then find him and then capture him. The preparations will be ready for the Kyuubi in about a year and a half so that is when we expect to have him here."

The members nodded and left the room.

The base they were staying at was underground and placed under a genjutsu. It was very large but not very extravagant. Sakura and Riza had their rooms right next to each others. The rooms were all the same; a white double size bed, wooden dresser, a lamp, and a closet. There were four bathrooms throughout the base. The good part was there was a really nice open air bath right above the base.

"Sakura-chan let's go to the hot spring!" Riza said excitedly. It took her a few seconds to interpret what she just said, Riza talks too fast and loud."Don't we have to leave soon?" Sakura asked.

"No, we have until tomorrow. I've never been in an open air bath, so let's go!" she said excitedly. The medic waved her hands "Alright, alright"

"Yay!" the cheery blond dragged her partner to the hot spring. They changed and wrapped towels around them, then entered the warm water. "Nyah, this is so refreshing." Riza sighed. The girls relaxed into the water.

"Weird how we got partnered with Itachi and Deidara, isn't it?" Riza said breaking the silence. "Yeah, it is. At least you're with lover boy."

Riza splashed her. "Will you shut up?" Sakura splashed back "nope" Thus the splashing fight began.

They laughed a few seconds then calmed down. Sakura sunk deeper into the water, enjoying the soothing effect. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the rare silence. "I feel like I'm missing something in this whole arrangement." Again, so much for silence, whenever Riza's around there's never silence.

"What do mean? We're unfortunately paired with an ice block and an explosion obsessed blond, what else could there be?" Sakura questioned not paying attention.

"It's just; I don't know; I get the feeling we're only getting half of it." Riza scrunched her brows together. Her partner just waved it off. "You're just weird."

Riza grinned, "Yeah I know, and I'm proud of it."

After they were done, they went to their rooms and turned in for the night. Sakura laid down on the mattress and heard it screech when she sat down. It wasn't as comfortable as the one at the Aoitsuki base, but then again no bed could be compared to that one. She wrapped her self in the blankets, staring at the wall. The scene that occurred a couple of hours ago was being replayed over and over again. Eventually she forced herself to close her eyes and she entered a dreamless sleep.

The next morning she got up with a pain in her right shoulder from sleeping on it wrong. God, she missed her old bed. She tried getting up but tripped over the sheets and fell. She got dressed into her Aoitsuki clothes and did what she needed then packed her medical supplies.

On her way out she saw her blond partner fully awake. "Good morning Sakura-chan" Sakura tiredly nodded as Riza laughed. They chatted as they walked down the hall way. Riza ran into the kitchen and came running out with two bagels while giving one to Sakura and grabbing her hand, taking off. Sakura wondered why she was running then heard the loud "Hey!" Riza laughed and explained, "Never take Kisame's food."

They met up with their partners at the entrance. "So we have to be partnered with you two, un?" Deidara commented. "Yes, so let's all try to cooperate together." The female blond said like talking to little kids.

Deidara grinned at them and asked "Are we ready to go now, un?" The Aoitsuki girls nodded. Sakura looked at the elder Uchiha as he was emotionlessly propped up against the entrance, with his Sharingan on.

The group left and began running south. "We should head towards Konoha to gather information on the whereabouts of the Kyuubi." Riza said.

"When should we get there?" Sakura asked.

"About four days at the rate we are going." The stoic Uchiha answered. Sakura was shocked that he talked, but uncomfortably nodded. It was weird being in Itachi's presence knowing what he's done.

As they were jumping through the trees, the medic thought about what she had just agreed to do. She was going to be killing the person who she once considered to be family. Then again he did choose Sasuke over her. But does that really give her the right to take the Kyuubi and kill him? She sighed; she would have to so that the Akatsuki and Aoitsuki would be able to gain world domination, giving her power.

"You okay Sakura-chan?" Her friend asked. The pink haired girl smiled "yeah, I'm fine." Looking at Riza made Sakura realize this is what she wanted. She wants to be with the Aoitsuki, her friends.

By night fall they set up a camp and caught fish for dinner. "How about Riza cooks, she caught the most fish, un." Deidara suggested.

Riza embarrassedly shook her head, not wanting to disappoint him. Her pink haired friend saw this and said, "I'll cook, Riza's had some bad, _experiences_ with cooking."

Deidara chuckled, "I can't cook either Riza. But yours can't be that bad, it's not like you're going to put poison in it."

Riza brightened up a little bit "My cooking doesn't need poison to kill you."

Sakura ended up cooking the fish, which turned out pretty good, and Deidara and Riza were talking. Apparently he was trying to explain his perspective of art as she eagerly listened.

Her attention was then turned to Itachi, as he surprisingly spoke to her. "I've seen you with the Kyuubi and the copy ninja." He said simply.

"Ah, yes I was on the same genin team with them as well as your brother." She answered, avoiding his dangerous eyes.

"Hn, you're friends with them?"

"If I were friends with them I wouldn't be here, would I?" she questioned still uneasy around him. There was silence and the Sharingan master just sat there not paying attention to her.

Sakura's eyes were focused on the flames in the fire, "He's getting married tomorrow." This caught Itachi's attention. "I heard a rumor about that." He said already knowing who she was talking about. "He won't stay, though."

She looked at him, "Why not."

"He's to determined to kill me."

"Oh," was all she said as she looked at the stars. She could hear the blonds conversing and Riza giggling at any jokes Deidara made. She made a mental note to tease her about that later.

"You seem upset that he's getting married." The calm voice stated. "I was in 'love' with him for my entire life, habits are hard to break." She said not turning her attention to him.

"Love is foolish; emotions distract you and make you weak."

She laughed bitterly "I know that rule for sure. If only I could follow it."

"Just give up on him."

"It's not that easy." What was she doing telling him this stuff! He's a criminal, not someone to get comfortable with. Oh, wait she's a criminal now too.

"Hn" was his reply. What was up with Uchihas and Hyuugas with the word─ or rather sound, 'Hn'?

She shook her head and went in the tent she was sharing with Riza. Her blond friend wasn't in the tent, she was to busy conversing with the male blond. She got in a comfortable position and closed her eyes, and then she drifted off to sleep.

_Uchiha Itachi, a feared S-class criminal. He's now my teammate. I think fate is screwing with me. At least this is better than before. Itachi is at least more tolerable than his younger brother. Somehow he seems to know my situation. But he's wrong about one thing, not all emotions make you weak. Some make you stronger. One thing for sure is that love sucks._

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**Itachi and Sakura talked! I hope he's not OOC because he talked that much. Can anyone guess what Leader and Mistress are planning? Because of my wrist i won't be able to type much (i'm having difficulties right now) so i won't be able to update soon.**

**Thanks so much for the reviews, i feel so special! Oh, and I tried to make it longer. **

**Chocolate Chan**


	7. Gathering Information

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**So sorry for the late update! This chapter is a lot longer, nearly 4,000 words. Anyways enjoy the story!**

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After cleaning up their campsite to make sure no one could ever tell they were there, they continued traveling. On the way there Sakura didn't talk to Itachi anymore and stuck close to Riza.

"We have an entire year to bring him back to base. So why do we need to watch him train?" Riza said leaning back on a tree, obviously bored out of her mind. She was propped up with her hands behind her head and her eyes closed. Obviously the group was once again making plans to kidnap Naruto.

"To observe how strong he's become and then devise a plan to capture him." The raven haired man answered coolly. Sakura noted how smooth his voice was, and then realized what she had just thought, mentally smacked herself. _Bad Sakura, Itachi's not the kind of guy to think about like that._

Riza waved her hand in front of the dazed medic's face. "Ne, Sakura-chan we're leaving." Sakura snapped back to her senses and got up from where she was sitting. Deidara looked at her weird. "You space out a lot, un"

Sakura flushed at everyone noticing her lack of attention. She felt the heat rise to her face and walked ahead of everyone so they couldn't see. "So" she said not turning around. She could hear her friend trying to contain her laughter and ran faster.

Riza caught up to her, "its okay Sakura-chan we're just messing with you." The coral haired medic looked at her companion's grin "Yeah, whatever."

They continued running without any events. Sakura's mind began to wonder off again. She could felt the wind playing with her hair and her sweat against her skin as she ran. Vaguely she noticed her companion had left her for the other blond.

She thought about Konoha and her old 'friends' again. He was married, has been for two days. When he came to retrieve her, she was very good at keeping her emotions at bay by ignoring him. She noticed how little he was into that mission, only on it because of orders. A heavy feeling was dropped in her stomach.

Disappointment. Even though she was much more content with the Aoitsuki, she still wished _someone_ had wanted her back. All three of the guys on that mission were only there because of orders, and they only had orders because the village wanted her medical skills.

"_Just give up on him"_

Yes, the Uchiha was right she needed to give up on him, not just him but that whole village. Maybe Itachi wasn't that bad to listen to. What had Sasuke called it? Severing bonds?

The group stopped in a tree. "We'll put a henge on, and then gather information on the whereabouts of the Kyuubi." Riza commanded. Hand signs were made as there were four poofs of smoke. They all were wearing civilian clothing and concealed their chakra. Riza was a woman with red hair that was down to her waist. Black eyes replaced her cerulean ones and had pale flawless skin. Sakura only changed her hair color to a dark brown color that was a couple inches longer and gave her self freckles on tanner skin.

Itachi and Deidara both had brown hair in the same short style. Itachi changed his eyes to blue and made himself taller. Deidara was now a man with a much lighter skin tone and brown eyes.

"Alright let's go" The brunette woman said in a rich voice. They entered the Konoha gates and got in stating they were civilian visitors. To Sakura it felt more uncomfortable to be here than meeting Itachi. Seeing all the familiar buildings and people made her stomach churn as she remembered all the memories that took place here.

She then saw a certain person particularly. Motioning for her team to move in to the teahouse she went up to the familiar boy. She bumped into him which made him drop the papers he was carrying. She put on a fake apologetic face. "I'm so sorry let me pick those up for you." She bent down helping him pick up the scattered documents.

"That's okay miss, I'm Konohamaru." The boy said giving her a big smile. "I'm Usagi. I'm visiting some friends here since they told me a new Hokage was about to be named." She lied perfectly.

"Oh, you mean Naruto-niichan! He's off training so he'll be able to be the sixth Hokage!" Konahamaru said excitedly. To this day Naruto was his idol. Sakura knew they were close, so it was the perfect source of information.

"Training? Where's he training at?" she asked innocently. "I'm not supposed to tell, but you seem really nice so you've got to keep it a secret. Okay Usagi-chan?" he whispered. The brunette woman nodded for him to continue. Really this was too easy, leaf Ninja are way to trusting.

"Even I don't know the exact location, but he said something about it being around the village hidden in the waterfall and since almost no one knows where that is he'll be safe from this really bad group called the Akatsuki." He said quietly.

The others were listening in from the tea shop. Riza noticed this was her cue and came out. "Usagi-chan!" she embraced Sakura. "I'm sorry Kana-chan; I was busy talking to this nice boy." She turned her attention to Konohamaru, "This is my friend Kana, we've got to get going, and I'm sorry about bumping into you."

"That's okay. Bye!" he waved as they waved back smiling, walking away. Waiting for them were their male comrades. The four stealthily snuck out of the village and found an inn nearby. "We could only get one room, it has two beds, but still there are four of us." Riza sighed.

The room wasn't small or large and pretty nice quality. All of them released the henge, returning to their normal selves. The senbon user ran and jumped on the bed next to the window while screaming "Mine!" Sakura sat on the other bed cross legged and left the two guys standing there in the doorway.

"Not fair, you two can't both have the beds because you're girls, un." Deidara scowled. Sakura laid back with her feet still cross legged, as if she was claiming the bed, just to spite them. The medic swore she saw a vein throb on the artist's forehead.

"You two guys can't fit in a single sized bed together so we can't share." Riza smirked, thinking she had won. But the smirk Deidara had was devious and was starting to worry the girls on what he was thinking. Itachi stood there awaiting the out come, ready to step in if the decision was not to his liking.

"Yeah, but girls have smaller bodies than guys, so a girl and a guy would fit in the same bed together, un" He concluded amused at the girls' shocked expressions. Itachi didn't fail to see the reason behind his statement when the blonde's gaze shifted slightly to the bed next to the window.

Sakura's heart was racing, he couldn't actually be serious. Obviously the blonds would share, leaving her with the elder Uchiha. No way, Deidara is probably just making this up so he can be with Riza.

Speaking of her best friend, she was currently red as Itachi's Sharingan. Sakura mentally slapped her self again; she's got to stop thinking about Itachi and his beautiful crimson eyes. No, stop it!

The blushing girl was fidgeting with her fingers much like Hinata. "I guess that makes sense, we're teammates and all." Deidara grinned like an idiot, "Me and Riza can share." Oh, great Riza was agreeing, not even trying to think of a better solution.

How did she know that was going to happen? Oh yeah, they have crushes on each other, completely obvious to everyone but them. God, what are they in the academy? "No way! The guys can take the floor!" the pink haired Aoitsuki yelled.

That's when the weirdest thing happened. Itachi was giving her the famous Uchiha Smirk™ and it was much worse than Deidara's. "What's the matter, kunoichi afraid to sleep with me?" What the heck! He was teasing her! Uchiha Itachi was messing with her! She noticed there was amusement in his scarlet eyes. Isn't he supposed to be an ice block?

"No, I'm not afraid, that's just ridiculous!" she let her temper get a hold of her. One thing that was bad about Sakura was her temper, and Itachi had just managed to piss her off. By this time Deidara had sat next to Riza, both watching the scene with interest.

"I'm not taking the floor Blossom, either you stop being stubborn or take the floor." He said simply, but you could hear the amusement in his voice. "Fine" she was not going to be made a fool of. Stupid Uchiha. Stupid too-small-bed.

That's when she noticed he called her 'Blossom'. What is that a pet name? Uchiha Itachi or not, she would punch him through the walls if he called her that again. . "Now that that's decided, we can rest up a bit, un." Deidara said still holding a triumphant smirk.

Sakura scooted to the farthest end next to the other bed where Riza was. She felt the bed shift and knew Itachi had sat down. It wasn't that late but it was still nice to be able to lie down after a couple days of non-stop traveling.

"Hey Sakura-chan. Why did that kid give you the information so easily?" Riza asked propped up on her elbow. Apparently she was content lying next to her lover-boy. Not to mention she wasn't trying to scoot away like Sakura.

Sakura blew some stray hairs out of her face, trying to ignore the man seated next to her on the bed. "Konoha is too nice and trusting."

"Are all Leaf nin that soft, un?" Deidara said directing it towards Itachi and Sakura, knowing that was their former home.

"A lot of the stronger shinobi are smart enough to leave that weak village." Itachi said, not too happy with Deidara's statement. Sakura merely closed her eyes, "Shut up Deidara, before I have to hurt you." The blond was smart enough not to continue irritating the former Leaf Nin, especially Itachi.

No one else bothered to talk, creating an uncomfortable silence. Noticing the tension Riza got up, "I'm taking a shower." She quickly ran into the bathroom. A few minutes later Sakura heard the water start. "I'm next." She said irritated. _Thanks a lot Riza, just leave me in here with two weird guys._

"Sure, un"

"Hn" there's the Itachi we all know and lo─ are used to. She glanced next to her and saw the ebony haired man with his arms crossed and eyes closed meditating. He was so calm not bothered by the kunoichi next to him at all. Quickly she turned her gaze to the ceiling, not to get caught by the Uchiha. Riza later came out with wet hair and in black shorts and the white shirt she wears under her uniform; she had only removed the Yukata. The blond settled back into place next to Deidara and snuggled up in the blankets.

Seeing it was her turn, the emerald eyed girl got up from the bed and entered the bathroom. It was very simple, just a shower, toilet, and sink with a mirror. She turned on the water and undressed, then stepped into the steamy water. After four days without a shower, this felt heavenly. She let the droplets of water run down her back calming her muscles.

When she got out, the cold air froze her skin and she immediately grabbed her towel and dried off. She came out in the same clothes as Riza, and she got under the covers on the farthest side of the meditating Uchiha. There was only about a foot of distance between the two which Sakura was not happy about. The uneasy kunoichi tried to get some rest, but knowing who she was next to gave her a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She felt the other side of the bed lift and after a few minutes she heard running water, so she assumed Itachi was in the shower. His absence calmed her a bit and she was able to get to sleep before he returned.

* * *

When Sakura woke up she could feel someone's hot breath on her neck. At first she panicked then remembered she had to share a bed with Itachi. Turning around she saw the sleeping Uchiha next to her. He looked a lot less intimidating while sleeping. She quietly got up and got dressed and did other necessary stuff in the bathroom.

The medic came back out in her Aotsuki uniform and saw Itachi was up and dressed against the wall. She looked at their blond companions and saw Deidara had an arm wrapped around Riza, still both sleeping.

If only she had a camera. The scene would make such perfect blackmail, Riza all cuddled up to Deidara. Sakura was snickering at them as Itachi was glaring at the wall across from him, not caring at all.

They let their teammates wake up on their own, not making a move to wake them up. Itachi left the room to go gather information or whatever Itachi does, growing tired of waiting for the others to wake up. The rosette however stayed wanting to see their reactions while looking over a map to plan where to go. Konohamaru had said the village hidden by the waterfall, luckily she had been sent there with Team Seven as genin.

She dropped her head a bit remembering being useless, Naruto and Sasuke did everything while she watched. Although she loved the memories of Team Seven, she also hated them. Those were the memories where she really was weak. Now she was strong, but no one thought the twelve year old Sakura could become strong. She shook her head ridding those thoughts and turned back to the map.

About ten minutes later the fun started. Now this was even better than before. Riza had woken up groggily then tried to sit up, but noticed she couldn't because two strong arms were holding her down. Immediately a heavy blush appeared on the girl's face as Deidara woke up. He noticed the position they were in and quickly detached himself with a quick "Sorry" The tomato faced girl only nodded and mumbled "that's okay". Awkwardly they got up and parted to get dressed avoiding all eye contact.

The whole time Sakura was smirking and thinking how great this blackmail would be. They approached her at a visible distance from each other. "Itachi is waiting for us somewhere, let's go." The group found there last companion walking around some shops. He hadn't found anything useful there.

"Isn't Takigakure's location unknown?" Riza asked, having collecting herself after the previous event. They continued out of the small town, negotiating where to go next. Of course Sakura already knew from the past experience and studying the map.

"We'll travel north until we reach the Land of the Waterfall. From there I know where Takigakure is, it's hidden behind a large waterfall." Sakura answered with ease.

"How do you know where the village is, un?" Deidara raised an eyebrow. The group continued to travel north as Sakura directed, at the rate they were going it would take about a week to get there.

The former leaf-nin shrugged, "I had a mission to escort their leader back as a genin, but the mission got a little side tracked to where he led us into the village."

"That information is useful to the Akatsuki, in case an enemy was to hide out there, we would know where they were." The scarlet eyed man commented.

"Yes, and that's what Konoha thought they could do with Naruto." Sakura replied picking up there pace as they traveled.

"Oh, I get it! But we won't capture him 'cause the preparations aren't ready for the Kyuubi yet. Gotcha'!" Riza chirped, very hyper.

"Yeah, were only monitoring progress, un" the artist of the group said. And so the four continued on their way to the village hidden in the waterfall, which Sakura had visited years before.

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"No Riza-chan"

Ten minutes later the annoying question was repeated.

"No Riza, we're not there yet." The irritated medic said through gritted teeth.

The group had been traveling for five days, but was still in Fire Country. They hadn't encountered problems, but a few rogue nins, other than it had been easy, or in Riza's words 'boring'.

"When are we going to get there?" the bored blond whined.

Deidara looked over to her, "Riza, we'll be there in a few days, just stop complaining, un."

"Fine." She miraculously remained silent. But sure enough, there is never silence when Riza is around.

"Sakura-chan, can't we at least stop at an inn?" Riza asked.

The aggravated girl looked over at their other companions. Deidara shrugged, not caring. "There's a small town coming up that we can reach by nightfall." Itachi said.

"Then we'll stop there. Happy Riza?"

"Yes, thanks Sakura-chan!" she replied happily. Sakura sighed and made a mental note; _never let Riza get bored. _

Just as Itachi said they arrived in a town around dusk, and looked for somewhere to eat. Riza pointed out a sushi bar to Sakura, "Can we eat there?"

"Sure" both Sakura and Deidara agreed, and Itachi nodded. Not bothering to put a henge on, they walked in. It wasn't a shinobi village, so no one would recognize them, even in fire country.

They sat down and ordered as Riza talked about random stuff, while Sakura half consciously listened.

"Did you hear about that Uchiha boy?" Sakura's ears perked up at the women gossiping next to them and held a hand up to her companions as they waited.

"No I haven't, but didn't he just recently get married?" The other woman asked. Sakura ignored the streak of pain she felt being reminded of that.

The first woman leaned closer to the second, as if it were a secret. "Well, I heard he left Konohagakure again." The pink headed eavesdropper's eyes widened.

The other woman gasped, "No!" she said disbelievingly. The first woman nodded, "Yes, they sent shinobi out after him and we're supposed to report any signs of him to the officials."

The woman eagerly listened. "But get this, his wife was showing of being pregnant the day he left." At this Sakura almost gasped. Ino was pregnant with an Uchiha. It all made sense then, the reason he came back so willingly.

The food arrived, but Sakura wasn't hungry anymore. Her companions heard what the gossiping ladies said and Riza sent her friend a sympathetic look.

"Aren't you glad it wasn't you he married? He sounds like a real bastard." She said biting into her sushi. The rosette looked over to Itachi and he gave her a look as if he were saying 'told you so'.

"He only stayed there to insure the revival of the clan." The older Uchiha stated her thoughts.

"You really screwed your little brother up in the head, Itachi." Deidara laughed.

"Hn, he left that village on his own free will, he could have stayed there to train." Itachi said, not looking at the others, but calmly eating a rice ball.

No one had said a word after that, and they paid the bill, then left. Sakura nearly walked straight into a pole, from her lack of attention. There was a lot on her mind now.

"So, now we've got your little pain of a brother after us, right?" Riza asked Itachi, not to happy with the idea that someone would be interfering.

"Yes, he's definitely coming after me." Itachi said bored.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, "You do realize he's probably got his little team with him too, no one had killed any of his 'Hebi' members off."

"Yes, we'll just have to deal with them."

Deidara looked amused, "That water guy is still after sushi-chan's sword, un?"

"I guess this is the reason we're in groups instead of pairs. With Konoha and Itachi's little brother after us, we'll need to make sure we have enough people to make sure we don't get our asses kicked. What a pain." The hyper blond sighed.

They stepped into an inn, much to Riza's delight, and were able to get two rooms this time. Riza and Sakura left to room, and got ready for bed.

Sakura's best friend flopped down on one of the beds, "What an interesting day. I'm so glad we finally reached an inn."

"Yeah, it was" Sakura said a little dazed. Riza scrunched up her eyebrows and gave her a worried look. "Sakura-chan, are you going to be able to face Sasuke and his team?"

The medic laughed, "Of course, I'm fine, just a little overwhelmed. We had to face his team a while back too."

"Was his team just waiting for him to have a kid then continue on searching for Itachi?" Riza asked taking out her hair senbon, letting her side bangs fall, framing her face.

"Sounds like it, well I'm going to sleep." Sakura smiled at her friend and turned out the light.

"Goodnight, Sakura-chan."

"Night, Riza-chan" she responded closed her eyes. She remembered what happened a couple of years ago; they had faced off Team Hebi. In the end Sasuke had been barely left alive by Itachi and before Konoha could get to him, his team took him and ran. That had been the second time she saw Itachi and Deidara had almost been killed by Sasuke.

_Great Sasuke's after us. I thought I was upset when he chose Ino over me; she's probably a wreck right now. Maybe it was a good thing the maiden got her heart broken; otherwise it would have been much worse. Now we have to capture Naruto too. I can only hope that with the help of my new friend and companions that I'll be able to face my past._

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**Oh my gosh I have more than 115 reviews! Thanks you guys so much, i hope you liked the chapter. I wasn't too happy with it, but oh well. **

**Chocolate Chan**


	8. Spar

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**I want to thank Faye Zepher for helping me out so much, that saved me from a huge writer's block! And also i finally updated, so now _someone _owes me their final chapter. Anyways enjoy the chapter!**

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Four people all stood in a clearing, waiting for their leader to speak. A raven haired man look at the other three, "I have completed my task in Konoha, we will continue with the search for Itachi." His voice was emotionless, yet full of authority at the same time.

A red-haired woman pouted looking at the man. "Sasuke-kun, I would've helped you restore your clan." Sasuke looked at her warningly, not wanting to put up with her useless flirting.

Their shark-like companion snickered at the girl, "Karin, who would want _you_ as the mother of their children, much less sleep with you."

Her face puffed up and she crossed her arms across her chest, "Shut-up water-boy! Like you could get a girl, not only are you ugly, you are a bastard too." She glared at Suigetsu.

She then turned to the object of her affections, "Men find me very attractive, right Sasuke-kun?" she purred.

Suigetsu rolled his eyes, "You keep telling yourself that."

The red-haired woman punched him and huffed. He rubbed his shoulder where the hit landed. "Bitch," he muttered and scowled at her.

Sasuke turned around and started walking as a sign for the others to follow. "Karin, Suigetsu we don't have time for your mindless bickering."

Those two never stopped fighting. It could almost remind someone of a lover's quarrel, if not for the killing aura that surrounded them. It was also unbearably annoying to everyone around them, including their leader. Sasuke didn't like having to be the one to shut them up but if it was required to get them to shut up and preserve the rest of his sanity, he would.

Juugo, the man who had been silent spoke up, "Where are we heading?"

Their leader turned to Karin, "Ok, give me sec." she concentrated for a moment then looked back at Sasuke. "Itachi and that blond guy are heading somewhere towards Takigakure. They're also traveling with two women, one is that Pink haired bitch we fought awhile back." She scowled at the last part; she didn't like Sakura because she had a past with Sasuke, which was irrelevant now that he was 'married'.

"Hn, let's go." Sasuke said once again walking off. Karin ran to catch up to him, "Sasuke-kun wait up!" The other two followed close behind as they all once again set off to find Uchiha Itachi.

* * *

"Is this it?" Riza said over the roar of the rushing water. The group of missing nins were in front of a extremely large waterfall that Sakura said concealed the village Naruto was in. It was the largest waterfall the group had ever seen, but no one showd their awe, well except for Riza.

Riza's eyes widened in childish amazement and her jaw hung open. It was quite amusing to her other female partner that someone could be this child-like and immature, especially a shinobi who were meant to be serious and emotionless; quite the opposite of Riza.

"It's so big!" she exclaimed almost throwing her arms out, but stopped realizing the other's were all watching her.

"Yeah this is it." The pink haired woman looked up at the waterfall remembering being here with her teammates as genin. She remembered Sasuke fighting off the ninja that had attacked as she sat there doing nothing but admiring him. She really was useless back then.

"We need to put on a henge so that the Kyuubi doesn't recognize us when we're in the village." Riza commented. They all appeared in the henge they used in Konoha and looked to Sakura.

"How do you get in, yeah?" Deidara asked with an eyebrow raised. She looked around then led them to some rocks. "There's a path that goes behind the waterfall from here."

They proceeded to find the path and enter a large cave that further led them to the village. The cave was dark and wet, which almost scared Sakura. As they were walking, Riza being the klutz she was, managed to trip and get soaked. "I'm all wet now!" she whined.

"You'll dry off," Sakura rolled her eyes at her friend's childishness. The girl just whined that she hated being wet, and continued to annoy Sakura.

"You're pretty clumsy, Riza." The other blond chuckled. She shut up realizing how she was acting in front of him.

"Yeah," she blushed and rubbed the back of neck.

"There's the village" the Uchiha said gaining the other's attention. There indeed was the Takigakure, the village that had taken so long to get to. There were a lot of trees and of course a lot of water.

This, Sakura thought, is where they would find Naruto. For some reason it felt almost wrong. Hadn't he abandoned her too? Yes, so she isn't doing anything wrong. She was snapped out of her thoughts as her blonde friend spoke. Although that feeling didn't go away, she just shook it off.

"I heard they have some kinda special water that increases your chakra ten fold." Riza said wringing out some of the water from her shirt. Sakura knew what she was talking about; she had seen it after all.

Using the henge they were able to make it in the village unnoticed. As they walked through the streets casually Sakura asked, "What's the plan?"

"We'll take shifts observing him from day-to-day." Itachi said coolly. The group checked into yet another inn and discussed the plans. "Who's first for today, yeah?"

"I'll go!" the blonde chirped. Her clothes were almost dried and she wanted to get out so they would dry completely. That was almost relieving to the pink headed kunoichi, she wouldn't have to face her former friend today, but she could feel that worrying feeling in her stomach knowing she'd have to eventually.

"Alright, go find him, and try not to get caught." Sakura remarked knowing from today's event that Riza was not the most cautious person. "Hai, I'll be back here by nightfall." She said and dashed out the door.

That left her alone with Deidara and Itachi. Riza seemed to always get away and leave her stuck with them. It usually was just boring, she never talked to them.

Deidara, she wasn't close to, he talked to Riza but the only contact he made with Sakura were things for the mission. Secretly she thought that he still was angry that she killed Sasori, he seemed like that kind of person. He was sarcastic and chaotic, maybe it was a good thing. Although, she speculated, he didn't act rude around Riza, they had known each other a while before.

The medic sighed and then laid down on the bed ignoring the other men. After a few minutes of silence she sighed bored, and looked around the small room while playing with a lock of her pink hair.

"I'm going to go with Riza; we all know cruddy she is at stealth, un." Deidara said and walked out of the silent room without an acknowledgement from the other two. Sakura knew Mr. Ice-block wouldn't start up a conversation so she wasn't going to be entertained. She tried to occupy herself with playing her hair but gave up from sheer boredom.

It wasn't as weird being the same room with Itachi anymore, she realized. After spending so much time with him, it just seemed as if he were just there. No, she didn't talk to him much, but she wasn't afraid of him anymore. She watched him sitting next to the window staring out it.

He really was handsome; she knew that but didn't want to fully acknowledge it because of his identity. He sat there emotionlessly like always his Sharingan on. His eyes she thought were one of his most attractive features. His scarlet eyes were as beautiful as deadly.

His hair was a silky black that she wanted to run her fingers through to see if it was as soft as she thought. He was also very well built; he was lean and muscular but not bulky. She could feel a blush rising on her face as she observed him. Suddenly his gaze shifted towards her, "Is there something you need, kunoichi?" Kuso, he had caught her staring. The flustered girl felt her cheeks burn even more, "N-no."

"Hn," he said but didn't turn away. It might not have been weird being around him, but being under his gaze was a different story. Moments passed as she thought her heart would burst from nervousness.

"Kunoichi, spar me." He commanded. Didn't ask, he _commanded_ her to. This took her for surprise. Spar her?

She blinked registering this in her mind. "You want me to spar you?" she asked pointing to herself.

"Do not make me repeat myself. There's an empty field near the inn." The Uchiha said and began walking out of the room.

"O-ok" Sakura stuttered then ran out of the room to catch up to him.

* * *

"Riza," a deep voice whispered to the said girl in hiding. She was in a tree watching as a blond boy practiced a new jutsu. She was bored out of her mind, watching her target train was not the most amusing thing.

The voice scared her and she squeaked and almost fell back, only to have the backside of the person's hand on her mouth. She struggled to get free, thinking it was an enemy. She would be in a lot of trouble with her teammates if she got caught.

The voice chuckled again, "Riza, it's only me."

Riza turned around and saw it was only Deidara who had scared her half to death. He let go, then crouched next to her on the branch. She sighed in relief then looked at him questioningly. "What are you doing here?" she whispered.

"To make sure you don't blow your cover which you're most likely bound to do." He whispered back.

She furrowed her eyebrows, "I could have done it with out getting caught" the blonde girl turned away from him and continued to observe the Kyuubi. Accidentally, she lost her footing and was about to fall when two arms caught her and pulled her back. Riza turned around to meet the artist's mocking grin.

"No offense but you need to work on your stealth, and don't play around on missions." Deidara said.

"I was not playing around, and my stealth is just fine thank you."

"Your stealth and stamina sucks, Riza. You're always so hyper and it gives you away." He pointed out.

"That's just my personality; I can be serious if I need to." Riza scowled at him forgetting their target.

"No need to get mad at me. There's nothing wrong with your personality, you just need to be serious on missions." He lightened up.

"I'm not mad; I just thought you were saying you didn't like me." She said lightly.

"I like being around you Riza, plus you may be hyper but you aren't as bad as Tobi." The gray eyed man laughed quietly.

"Oh, thanks." The girl blushed.

Her view went back to the training field as she noticed the occupant was now gone. She wasn't sure when he left, but had only gotten to pay attention half of the time due to her companion. "Damn," she swore, "we were to busy arguing to notice that the Kyuubi left."

Deidara sighed, "Looks like we're done then, we better get back to Itachi and Sakura."

For some reason it had just dawned on the blonde that her other teammates were alone together. _Uh-oh._ She flinched thinking that Sakura might kill them for leaving her with Itachi. Then again they could be 'getting to know each other better', she thought with an evil smirk and a mischievous look in her blue eyes.

"Yeah you're right let's go see what they're up to," Riza said still holding a devious smirk. Deidara look at her with an eyebrow raised, he didn't exactly like the look on her face.

"What are you planning," he said slowly and cautiously. If Riza is plotting something it isn't good, it usually ends up in failure and chaos.

"Nothing much, come on" she smiled and the Akatsuki member only complied as they left.

"Do you think they killed each other?" he asked.

"No, but I think we'll be the ones fearing for our lives." She said. The clumsy girl knew of her friend's uneasiness around the older Uchiha. She also knew that she was attracted to him. Leaving them alone for a long period of time could either be a really bad thing or a good thing. Most of all, she wanted some dirt on Sakura so she wouldn't be able to be the only one teasing her about a crush.

_Oh, yeah, this will be fun._

* * *

The pink haired kunoichi was standing on a large training field quite confused. One minute she was practically drooling over the Uchiha, the next he demands to spar her. It was sudden and he didn't give her a chance to think, so here she was standing across from the man who had challenged her.

While she was blankly staring, her opponent was waiting for her attack. "Kunoichi, make the first move." He commanded stoically. She finally snapped out of it and hesitated, not quite knowing how to start out. Itachi had his usual Sharingan activated; jutsus wouldn't be a good start. Her only choice would be her weakest area. taijutsu.

"H-hai," Sakura stuttered and positioned herself in a battle stance. She ran at him with a kunai in hand and tried to stab him on his chest. Before her attack got anywhere near him, he grabbed her fist, taking her kunai, and kicked her in the side in a split second.

Sakura knew he would be able to dodge that attack, what she hadn't expected was the lightning speed kick that threw her back. She landed hard on the ground, gasping for air but after a moment got back up. Once again she charged at the Sharingan user, who predicted her attack and move out of the way of her blowing kick.

They exchanged some hand-to-hand combat for a while. The kunoichi wasn't able to land a single hit on the man, he had repeatedly been able to hit her and she starting to hurt. As she blocked the oncoming kick with her arm, she managed to catch him off guard and use her other arm to swing a chakra-infused punch to his face.

Itachi had flown back a few feet from the blow of the punch, but kept his emotionless mask unfazed by her hit. He then made several hand seals and whispered out the familiar phrase, "Grand Fireball Technique"

The medic's eyes widened at the giant ball of fire heading towards her. She jumped out of the way in time but realized it was no time to feel relieved. As soon as she let her guard down by dodging the jutsu, Itachi took the opportunity to come behind her and he pinned her to the nearest tree, a kunai at her neck.

He bent his head down to her ear and she could feel him breathing on her skin, sending shivers down her spine. "I win kunoichi." Before she knew it he lifted himself of her and placed the kunai in his weapon pouch. She was still slightly dazed but then saw that she had indeed left a bruise on his left cheek.

Sakura felt proud and disappointed in herself at the same time. She was happy she managed to leave a bruise on the Uchiha, but discouraged she was only able to hit him once. Was she really still that weak? She walked up to him staring and the forming purple mark.

"I can heal that," she offered. Her only reply was a grunt, which she took as a yes. A green glow came from her hand as she placed it on his handsome face. She looked into his eyes, the red crimson orbs staring back at her. For a moment she thought she saw his eyes twitch in what looked to be pain. The mark faded and she pulled her hand away, but her eyes not leaving his.

"Thank you kunoichi. You put up a fair fight, but your skills lack in Taijutsu and endurance. If I may ask, why did you only use Taijutsu?" he asked truly curious.

"That is what I lack in most, so I need to practice it the most. And by the way, my name is Sakura, not kunoichi." She bit out the last part irritated by being constantly called kunoichi.

But the anger ceased as she saw his eyes twitch again. It seemed to her he was having eye problems, and then realized she had never seen him without his Sharingan. That has to be it, his eyesight is fading from the overuse of Sharingan, she concluded.

"Alright, Sakura, we should head inside now." Itachi said using her name. Her heart seemed to flutter when he said her name so smoothly, with his velvet voice.

"Yeah, Deidara and Riza should be back by now." She said hiding a blush. It was already dark, their teammates were probably back at the inn. Sakura caught up to the silent man and walked next to him on the walk back, not too uncomfortable in the silence.

* * *

**Once again, i'm so thankful to all my reviewers! Over 140 already! If you have any questions feel free to ask! I forgot the name of the fire technique the Uchiha's use so it might be wrong.**

**Chocolate Chan**


	9. Promises

**Disclaimer: I do not own the series Naruto or its characters, which all belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.**

**I'm back! Thanks to one of my anonymous reviewers who pointed out i had been spelling Aotsuki wrong. I try my best with the japanese translating site i use but sadly i only speak English. Anywho, this is where the actual plot starts, so enjoy! (also thanks again to Faye Zepher for helping me with this idea!)**

**I have cleaned up my profile so you can check that out for the progression of my stories, i'll most likely have updates there when i get around to it. I'll be regularly posting any news on my stories so go there if you want to know the status of them.**

* * *

As she thought about it more and more over the next two days, the pink-haired kunoichi was starting to feel uneasy. She had thought before, when joining the Aotsuki, she would be able to capture Naruto and kill him. That was when her judgment was clouded with emotions of anger and betrayal though, she wasn't thinking clearly. Now as she as she thought about it, she realized what she was really doing. The blond Kyuubi kit was always there for her before the 'Sasuke and Ino' incident. 

No matter how hard she trained her damned emotions would always get in the way.

Sakura shakily sighed as the realization hit her with full force. Looking at her hands she saw they were trembling as well and she shook her head as if to get rid of the emotions. It was too late for her, her eyes darkened; she had already made her decision.

"Ne-ne, Sakura-chan? You okay?" A hand waved in front of her face and she looked up to see the smiling face of Riza.

"Yeah Riza-chan, just spaced out again." Sakura replied, trying not to look upset.

That was hard to do though. At the moment Sakura was in their inn room waiting for it to be her turn to watch Naruto's progress in his training. The realization had finally hit her when it was too late.

The senbon-wielder giggled and poked her friend's forehead. That had surprised Sakura, her eyes widened, about to ask her what she thought she was doing, when Riza answered.

"You space out so much, Sakura-chan. You must have lots on your mind." She giggled girlishly again.

Sakura raised a pink eyebrow. She had really weird choices in friends; they all seemed to be overly hyperactive. But then again, Riza was right that she spaced out to much, she let her emotions get to her.

"Yeah, I guess." She got up from her spot on the bed with a creak and stretched. She would do it, Sakura told herself, and she would go see Naruto. Besides it wasn't like he would actually see her.

Yes, she was the only one who had to endure the pain of seeing her former best friend. Vaguely she wondered if he did miss her. She knew she missed him even after being shunned, it was extremely hard to hate (or even dislike for that matter) the blond kid who always has a goofy grin on his face. He grows on you, she thought, almost laughing out loud.

"Where are the guys?" Sakura asked, temporarily taking her mind off the inevitable matter for the moment.

"Right here," said a voice behind her. Deidara and Itachi had entered the room not only a second ago. It was obvious in the tone of his voice that Deidara had not enjoyed having to be around the anti-social Uchiha.

Really it was no secret the bomb 'artist' loathed Itachi. It must have been horrible for him to have had to of been partnered with him, and as soon as he gets his hopes up that they get to change partners, he is still stuck with him, plus the girl who had killed his best friend. Talk about rough, Sakura almost pitied the unfortunate man.

"You guys looked like you all had fun." Riza smiled, mocking them because it was quite obvious it was anything but fun. The blond came in scowling while the other silent as always, to not have known the answer would have made you a complete imbecile.

Deidara rolled his visible eye "Yes, it was the most pleasurable experience of my life." He said with sarcasm dripping form every word, scowl still placed on his mouth. Itachi remained silent but you could tell he was slightly irritated.

Riza clapped her hands delightfully, "Good! I think you guys should go do more observation missions together, while me and Sakura-chan stay here."

"No way in hell are you two getting off easy while I'm forced to stay around him." Deidara jabbed his thumb in Itachi's direction. Itachi just glared at Riza, daring her with his eyes to make another suggestion like that then focused his glare to Deidara.

"Okay, okay, Riza stop irritating them," Sakura finally cut in. Riza might have been in trouble if she continued. The blonde stayed silent for a moment with a blank look on her face before smiling cheekily at her friend.

"Okay Sakura-chan!" she chirped. Of course she'd do anything for Sakura.

Sakura sighed, "Good girl, now try to avoid making crazy psycho murderers mad from now on." She said like a parent scolding their child.

"Okay," Riza complied once again. Sakura could almost feel the glares on her back from the two males. Apparently it was irritate Itachi and Deidara day, she thought with an inward laugh.

With that being over with Itachi turned to Sakura to get to the matter at hand. "Sakura-san, it is your turn to observe the Kyuubi container." She quickly turned to face him, surprised he said something.

Sakura almost fell over. What had she been expecting, a pleasant conversation? Only about the mission, why else would he talk to her? But it wasn't as if she cared, she told herself.

"H-hai," she said softly, her eyes cast downward. Before anyone had the chance to notice anything she looked up and composed herself. Apparently no one had noticed and she acted normal. _Attachments to the enemy are very bad Sakura_, she thought. It surprised her to think Naruto was now her enemy.

"I'll be back by nightfall," she said and slipped out the door.

Riza blinked at the spot where Sakura just was. "Do you all think something's wrong with Sakura-chan?" she asked her teammates.

Deidara, who was molding clay, "I don't know, she seemed fine to me," he said uncaringly, not taking his eyes off of the clay. He was telling the truth, he didn't pay much attention to Sakura.

Itachi didn't answer, just stayed silent, looking up at the ceiling aloofly. It's not like she could expect an answer from him. He always stayed quiet, or maybe he wasn't listening to them. Riza didn't mind the Uchiha much; she sometimes forgot he was even there.

Frowning at the blank man, she turned to Deidara to maybe get a conversation with him. He always seemed willing to talk to her, and really didn't mind. Besides Tobi, he was most likely the most social Akatsuki there was. Maybe that was the reason she had been drawn to him when the organization had began.

She shrugged and talked to him about his clay. She hoped Sakura was alright. For the mean time, she just had to wait.

* * *

When Sakura arrived at the area Naruto was supposed to be in, she quickly hid. Her heart raced as she looked through the branches. As she had expected there was her former teammate and friend training. It hurt her more than she thought it would have seeing him. 

She observed him from her perch in the trees, her chakra hidden and herself concealed by the thick bunches of leaves. He looked a lot like she remembered. The blond man's bright golden air was messy from training, tan skin wet with the result of his hard work. His customary orange jacket was thrown on the ground, leaving him in a black T-shirt and his orange track pants. She offhandedly wondered if he would change his vibrant attire once he became Hokage.

The pain hit her realizing he wouldn't make it to Hokage. He was going to die in less then a year by her work. Maybe, she thought, he would have a small experience at Hokage before they had to capture him. Yes, she could stall her new teammates to give time to her old one; she pondered staring intensely at Naruto.

The said person panted as he trained to his limit. From the look of it, he was trying to accomplish a water technique. It must have been difficult considering water wasn't his element.

The water rose from the pond slowly as he redid the hand seals. Sakura stared in awe at his progress. She guessed it was true, Naruto could accomplish anything. But despite his efforts, the water fell once it reached above a foot.

The Kyuubi Kit fell back in exertion, his face scrunched up. Slowly he got up and stood silent for a moment. The rosette watched as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"I have to complete this technique," he said in a deep voice. He looked down and a shadow covered his eyes.

"I have to get stronger to bring Sakura-chan back!" he looked up and yelled.

Surprised he mentioned her she flinched and her chakra became noticeable for a moment. Cursing she hoped her mistake of being off guard would slip. Somehow she knew it wouldn't, does anything ever go her way?

Naruto sensed the new and familiar chakra. His head shot up and he was immediately alert. A kunai was pulled out and he was prepared to defend himself against the intruder. He was looking straight where Sakura was suspiciously.

"Whoever the hell is watching me better come out now before I kill them," he threatened darkly. Sakura was extremely worried for hers and Naruto's sake. It looked to her like he was emotionally unstable, which could result in the Kyuubi's chakra. She knew that she had no choice and swallowed what seemed to be the last of her false hope.

She hesitantly jumped down from the bushes, refusing to look up at him. She could already imagine his horror struck face. He would hate her now, she was sure. Why did life hate her, she wondered, the one thing she prayed wouldn't happen did indeed happen.

"S-Sakura-chan…" Naruto choked forgetting to remove the endearing suffix. His long time friend looked up at him with a bitter smile. He could see the falseness in her entire appearance. This wasn't the Sakura he knew; this wasn't _his_ Sakura-chan.

Sakura drew a deep breath, "Hello," she drawled on with a fake sweet tone mixed with guilt and bitterness, "Naruto." The last word came out of her mouth but she couldn't hear her own voice. Any moment now she knew her voice would crack and she'd break down crying.

Naruto's expression was different then what she had imagined. Instead of it filled with horror and detest it was adorned with sadness, longing, a spark of hope, and unexplainable guilt on her part. The anger was gone and the tint of red disappeared from his cerulean eyes. She could see crystal pools of liquid tugging to be released.

"W-what, why, I mean Sakura-ch-" he babbled struggling to find the words to fully express himself and caught himself with the suffix. Guilt pulled along with his tears and he looked at his feet as they stood in silence.

He finally looked up with the most hurt face she had ever seen. His tears had finally been released as he bit his lip and looked at her. "Sakura-chan" he said in an equally pained voice, "just tell me, what's going on?"

The Konoha missing-nin just wanted to give in right then and there. This is why she had dreaded and avoided this moment at all cost. All of her previous logic disappeared at that face. What had she been thinking? Her fake face fell and her eyes softened.

"I- Naruto…we're on separate sides now, it is my mission to capture you to obtain the Kyuubi, then the Akatsuki and Aotsuki will be able to-"

The blond boy yelled, interrupting her, "That's not what I meant!" His voice faltered and he looked ashamed, "Why does it have to be like this Sakura-chan?" he looked at her pleadingly, his voice came out almost squeaky.

Sakura gulped and felt pools of her own swell up in her eyes. How was she supposed to answer that? How was Naruto always able to do this? How he was able to bring the good out in everyone and set them straight.

"I know I was bad to you, so was everyone else. I know you had every right to leave," he looked into her emerald eyes, "but I hate this, I don't want you to be my enemy. I miss you so much Sakura-chan'ttebayo." He ended with his trademark line and a sad yet boyish grin.

That was her limit. Sakura completely broke down crying at his words. She dropped down to her knees and sobbed. The guilt was the heaviest feeling she had ever experienced. He was sorry? She was the one in the wrong, yet he blamed it on himself.

"Sakura-chan?" her ever loyal friend asked worriedly. He walked over to where she was weeping and bent down about to comfort her despite that she was considered his enemy. That didn't matter to him, friend or foe he would always comfort his Sakura-chan.

Before he knew it Sakura threw herself on him and held on to him while she cried. His eyes were rid of the negative emotions as he held her and he only looked at her softly. Before he was wrong, it was the same Sakura-chan, she was just hiding from the truth. He let her cry into his shirt and he wrapped his arms around her securely while he buried his face in her hair. How many times had this happened?

Sakura, with her head still in her friend's shirt, mumbled almost incoherently, "I'm sorry, Naruto, so, so, sorry." She tightened her grip on him and much up some of his shirt in her hand. Naruto stroked her hair lovingly.

"It's okay; I know you did what seemed right."

She lifted her head and looked at him; her cherry tresses sticking to her cheeks form the tears. "How are you able to forgive me? My intent is to _kill you_. How can you forgive me for that?" she asked miserably. She knew he was only trying to make her feel better but the fact that he was so nice and accepting about it hurt even worse.

"Because you're my best friend Sakura-chan, you're my sister. I'll always be there for you, that's my job. Apparently I failed at it a while ago but that won't happen again, I promise." He said with a true smile. When Naruto promises something, he always keeps it.

* * *

_'A promise of a lifetime...'_

* * *

"I don't want to do it anymore, I don't want you to die." The rosette said solemnly. The blond perked up at an opportunity. 

"Then come back with me! I'm gonna be the Hokage soon, I'm sure every one would accept you back. You know Tsunade-baachan really misses you." He told her happily, hoping she would say yes.

The mention of her old teacher and surrogate mother made her feel even worse. She knew she had hurt Tsunade almost the worst, being betrayed by a loved one _again_. Sakura honestly loved her shishou like the mother she never had and it pained her to think she was the cause of her sadness.

As tempting as the offer was she couldn't accept it without feeling as if she were betraying other people. The Aotsuki had helped her despite their overall plot, they were her friends, her other family.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I can't abandon these people too. They're, believe it or not, my friends. Like Riza, she's become the best friend I could ever have," she stopped at seeing his face fall, "the best _girl_ friend that I can share girly stuff with ya' know? You're still my best friend of all times, but so is she in a different way."

Her best friend from her original home looked at her understandingly. "Okay, but you know if you ever change your mind, you can come back, right?"

"Yeah, thank you Naruto." She pondered for a moment, "I want to find way to save you. This is my promise to you; I won't let them kill you. We still need the Kyuubi, but maybe, just maybe there's a way around you dying."

Naruto was almost shocked at her declaration. This was the Sakura he knew for sure, but now stronger and braver. He was proud of her; she had changed so much from when he had met her and even when she left the village. They would keep their promises and protect one another.

"Can you make me one more promise." She asked him.

"Sure," he answered happy that things were patched up with his Sakura-chan.

"Promise me; promise me that you don't tell anyone what happened today; except for Tsunade-shishou. Tell her everything and my reasons why. And also tell her…" she paused trying to find the perfect words, "tell her I'm sorry and that I miss her. That I love her as my mother even though I may not be worthy of being her daughter." She smiled sadly.

If she were lucky Tsunade would maybe not think of her as bad. She had to let her know how much she meant to her.

"Alright, I won't break any of my promises, dattebayo!" he exclaimed jumping up with Sakura still on the ground watching him. He turned to face her grinning, "And I know Tsunade-baachan will forgive you, she loves you almost as much as I do. 'Cause she's our Kaa-san, you're my nee-chan, and Kakashi-sensei would be our Tou-san!" he left out the other member of their original team but they both knew he was their brother.

Sakura laughed at his explanation. She felt better, the weight was lifted off of her and she felt whole again. That was something only Naruto could do. He had always protected her, even when she had thought she was protecting him, but now it was her turn for real. Somehow everything worked out perfectly; she could save her new family and old.

"I'm going to miss you Sakura-chan," Naruto said pulling her up and wrapping her in a big hug. She returned it knowing it may be the last time they could be with each other without a fight.

"Me too, Naruto, more than you can ever imagine." She said untangling herself from him reluctantly.

"Now shouldn't you be training, you have to train to be the greatest Hokage ever," she smiled at him.

"Yeah, I'm gonna be the Rokudaime, dattebayo!" he cheered.

"I've got to go before my teammates come," the Aotsuki said sadly.

"Everything will work out, don't worry. I'll go deliver your message to Tsunade-baachan right away!" before he turned away he spoke to her again.

"I'm just curious, but who are your other teammates, I heard they're supposed to be Akatsuki." He asked with pure curiosity.

Sakura laughed humorlessly, "I've been stuck with my fellow Aotsuki, Riza and the Akatsuki members Itachi and Deidara."

She laughed at his hanging jaw, "Yes my team is just a joy house isn't it? With Riza annoying the closest person next to her and Deidara being a sarcastic jackass, not to mention the ever so silent Uchiha making you feel uneasy by just his presence. It's a miracle I'm still partially sane."

This time Naruto laughed at her casualness towards the men they had once been after to kill. "Ah, I feel sorry for you, but as long you're happy," he faked a disgusted face.

"Yeah, again, thanks so much, for everything." She said softly knowing this time it was the end.

"Bye Sakura-chan, I will miss you. Just watch I'm going to be the best Hokage and make you proud, and I'll always be there for you. It's a promise of a lifetime." He said ending with their line used so many times before.

His best friend watched as he picked up his jacket, turned around to give her one more cheeky grin and a peace sign. No matter what, Team Seven was always ahead of her, but that was okay because she had her time to shine along with them. Being in the back was good because you're the one always there for the ones in the spotlight.

The words had already died in her throat that she had intended to say.

"_I know you'll be the best Hokage, I've always known. I'm already proud of you. It's a promise of a lifetime, for sure."_

* * *

Sakura retreated back to the room sad but still happy. She entered the room and was immediately pushed to the ground by a force jumping on her. The force straddled her as she laid on the floor from unexpected shock. 

"Sakura-chan, are you okay? You look like you've been crying. You're kinda late, I was worried enemy nin had kidnapped you and we'd have to go save you from your dungeon!" The familiar voice exclaimed from atop her in a remarkable speed.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! Please just get off before I suffocate!" the crushed girl said. The person laughed and rolled off allowing the med-nin to breathe. Sakura looked up at her best friend fondly as they got situated. She knew she was happy with her choice, she thought as Riza babbled on about how they would save her from an evil villain.

The now happy girl suddenly laughed, causing Riza to stop her tale. She reached over and hugged her friend unexpectedly, surprising the blond girl.

"Sakura-chan?" Riza started confused. This had really surprised her, Sakura usually didn't do these kinds of things, things Riza would normally do. Nonetheless she hugged her friend back for whatever reason unknown to her. She was glad her friend was okay now; she had been worried for her because she had seemed down.

"I'm really happy I've got a best friend like you, Riza-chan." Sakura commented. She let go of her and just smiled feeling refreshed after the confrontation with Naruto. That was what had been bothering her and now that it was over she felt like a boulder had been lifted.

At this point Riza was flabbergasted. Sakura hugged her and told her she was happy to have her as a friend? She almost couldn't believe it but was still happy her friend wasn't depressed.

"Me too, Sakura-chan, you're the best, best friend I've ever had!" she chirped still slightly confused. Her confusion only increased as Sakura smiled at her. Tears began to appear in the girl's eyes, and they slid down her cheeks while she was still smiling, her expression still happy.

"S-Sakura-chan! What's wrong?" Riza fussed over her friend. It finally dawned on her, "What happened on your shift Sakura-chan?" she said gently, calming down. She sat next to Sakura on the floor and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders with a concerned look.

Sakura finally gave in and collapsed into the blonde girl sobbing. Riza held her, still concerned, for the next few moments. She was about to ask what happened again but was granted with the answer from a sniffling Sakura.

Sakura lifted her head and rubbed her red eyes. For some reason she laughed, "I just can't stop crying today can I?"

She finally pulled herself together enough to explain her odd behavior. "I've already told you everything about Naruto, right," Riza nodded in response and waited for her to continue, "He's my other best friend. I just can't stay upset with him." She paused before actually getting to the point.

"Today, my emotions got the better of me and I was caught by Naruto," Riza's eyes widened, "we talked and he forgave me, he was so nice about everything. He didn't care I was his enemy; he said he'd always be there for me. He offered me to go back with him."

She stayed silent for the other girl to continue. "I said no because," she looked up at the senbon girl, "I didn't want to leave you guys either." Riza's face was shocked. They had almost lost Sakura? She was awed at her loyalty to her friends.

"But Riza-chan, as happy as I am that Naruto understood and he forgave me, I feel horrible. He was able to do it so nicely and he even took the blame!" she added guiltily.

Riza held the medics shoulders so she would look at her, "That's what friends do Sakura; they want each other to be happy. Don't feel bad about anything."

"How can I?" Sakura exclaimed. "Our mission is to kill him! I promised him I'd find a way to get the Kyuubi without killing him. I just don't know what to do!"

The blonde sighed at her pink haired friend; she had definitely put them in a difficult position. She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and looked Sakura in the eyes.

"Look, Sakura, that wasn't the best thing to promise. We don't have a choice in the matter whether or not we get the Kyuubi. Leader-sama and Mistress-sama don't care what we do as long as we get that beast."

Sakura looked at her desperately, "But- isn't there anything we can do?" she said in an almost pathetic tone.

Riza thought about all the possibilities and one would work but it was pretty farfetched. Although when she looked at her face she felt she had to help.

"There might be one thing that would work," she started, "You know how way back a long time ago when everyone depended on priest and priestesses because there were no nin-jutsu?" Sakura nodded.

"They used to use a technique that would purify the demons they were facing. At the time they didn't realize this was an early form of nin-jutsu. Once there was a priest that everyone loved dearly. Legend has it that he became possessed and the other priest did not know what to do because purifying the demon meant purifying the man, in other words killing him.

"They all consulted and eventually came up with a technique to merely remove the demon. The technique though has its downside. It would only work with a sacrifice because they had to put the demon somewhere else then purify it. They have a scroll that still exists today in order for it to work called the Isou Scroll. We would have to find that scroll." She finished.

Sakura looked at her hopefully, "Can we find it?" This was perfect for her. She would be able to save Naruto, but it would cost someone else there life. It might sound selfish but she didn't care to give up another's life for Naruto's.

Riza looked at her doubtfully, "This is a legendary scroll, I only know it's not in any of the five countries, it's outside of here, otherwise I have no clue where it is. Besides it must be heavily guarded." Sakura gave her another pleading look and the blonde twitched.

"I suppose someone has to know where it is and with the help of Itachi and Deidara-kun we could get past anything they throw at us. As for the sacrifice we'll just capture someone off the Akatsuki's black list." She compromised.

The rose headed girl squealed and hugged her friend, "Thank you, thank you! You really are the best friend I could have!"

They both laughed and Riza grinned goofily, "Yeah, I know I'm awesome aren't I?"

"Quite modest too," Sakura joked with a roll of her eyes. The rest of the night was pleasant with no more worries. They were able to talk and have fun again without guilt hanging over Sakura's head.

* * *

"Tsunade-baachan," a blond boy walked into her office. She was sitting at her desk glaring at the stacks of paperwork and mad because Shizune wouldn't give her any sake until the paperwork was done. 

Surprised, she looked up at the boy, "Naruto, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be training?" she asked with a brow raised at him.

Something seemed different about him to her. He was smiling a genuine smile, which had been rare the in the last half of a year. The amber-eyed woman wondered what it was that contributed in his change of mood.

"I saw someone important a couple of days ago," he said the grin never leaving his face. She saw that the light in his eyes had returned as well as the happiness in his voice.

"Who was important enough that you had to come see me?" she asked skeptically. This also made her wonder, did whoever he meet cheer him up? They must have been important if Naruto stopped training.

"It was Sakura-chan," he answered excitedly. Tsunade's eyes widened and she stood up and slammed her hands on her desk making the organize paperwork slide around her desk and floor.

"What? You saw my apprentice?" she yelled at him. No wonder he was happy, what had happened though?

Naruto told her the whole story and Sakura's reasons like she had wanted him too and at the end Tsunade had her face buried in her hands.

"She also wanted me to tell you that she's sorry and she misses you. Also she says she loves you like a mother even though she said she may not be worthy of being your daughter." He quoted for her, keeping his promise.

The Hokage smiled sadly and look at the picture of her and Sakura when Sakura was only fourteen. She missed her daughter very much. Tsunade could remember when Sakura had started out training with her; she was a weak little girl but now she was a strong young woman. She remembered all the times they had, good and bad.

"Sakura, of course I forgive you, you're my daughter no matter what." She said as if the said person was here to hear it.

"That's what I told her Baa-chan, she knows." Naruto said softly.

"Thank you Naruto," Tsunade ended with a small smile.

* * *

**Almost 200 reviews!? Wow, you guys are awesome! Thanks so much! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, i personally had a lot of fun writing it, but i sorta cried during it...anyways, till next chapter!**

**--CC**


	10. Of Tactics for Persuasion

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor the characters or settings.**

**Yay! An update! Well Merry Christmas guys! It is 1:15 in the morning and I'm updating so I can get this to you guys for Christmas; shows how much i love you all. There's some slight ItaSaku in this chapter, so enjoy!**

* * *

"The Kyuubi kid is gone, un," Deidara said. No one knew of Sakura's meeting with Naruto except Riza and she intended to keep it that way. Apparently Naruto hadn't returned since he went to tell Tsunade, she probably didn't let him knowing the Akatsuki were close.

Sakura didn't blame Tsunade for keeping the Hokage-to-be under safe surveillance after he encountered her. Not only did she not want to lose the Rokudaime, she probably wanted to keep him safe so she didn't lose another person close to her. Now that Konoha knew the Akatsuki and their new partner were after him it would be a lot harder to get to him. Still the kunoichi hadn't forgotten her promise. She was going to keep it one way or another. It was a little better that Riza was on her side but it was still difficult because of one problem. How were they going to get their male partners to comply? That was the challenge itself along with actually getting the scroll.

Their day had consisted in training so far. They were sparring one another, Riza and Sakura then Itachi and Deidara. The girls had avoided asking the one thing needed, they couldn't find the right time. That was the one thing Sakura feared, they would refuse, and if they did it would be impossible.

Riza wiped the sweat off her forehead and grinned, "That was a good spar Sakura-chan," she said. In her eyes Sakura saw she was asking her,_'When are we going to ask?'_

"Yeah," the medic responded healing any bruises or pains. She walked over to her friend and held out her hand, asking her if she needed to be healed. The other girl held out her wrists that were swollen from blocking Sakura's enhanced strength. A green light emitted from her hands making the swelling disappear.

In response to the unspoken question Sakura shrugged and mumbled a quiet, 'I don't know'. Riza scowled and had an expression of deep thought on her face.

"You're going to have to get them to agree somehow, Sakura-chan," she said in a low tone.

"I know, I just need to think of some ideas of persuading them. Deidara is a little easier; it's Itachi that I'm worried about," Sakura replied to her in the same quiet tone. So far they had done a good job keeping their intentions a secret. Their other teammates cannot know until they decide to tell them.

Taking a deep breath the rosette looked up confidently, "I'll do it now, otherwise we'll never get it done. And-and if they refuse…we'll just have to persuade them another way."

During her speech Riza had stepped away discreetly. Noticing Sakura had finished, she stopped mid-step from her glare. She smiled nervously at Sakura and waved an imaginary flag, "You can do that! I'll be right here waiting and cheering you on, not getting killed!"

And that being said she was hit over the head in a swift moment by the braver of the two. She dropped down, crouching and holding her head with both hands. Sakura loomed over her with an evil aura, hands on her hips. From a distance the scene would look quite amusing.

"Ow, ow, ow, Sakura-cha-an! That was mean! What did I do?" she cried with fake tears. _Drama-queen_, Sakura snorted in her head.

"No way Blondie, you're not getting out of this one. You _will_ back me up here," she threatened darkly. The said blonde looked up fearfully, still clutching the bump on her head.

"Yes, ma'am," she gulped. The comical Riza-Sakura show was over, with Sakura winning that round. The medic inwardly shook her head at how close they had gotten in a half of a year. The fights like the previous scene weren't serious at all, just Riza being stupid. It was really fun, she concluded, being able to associate like that so openly.

Itachi and Deidara had finished their fight; Itachi had prevailed over the now brooding Deidara. The girls walked over, more of Sakura dragging the other girl, and stood firmly in front of the two. The quieter man stared at them blankly while the louder raised an eyebrow at them.

"Is there something you need?" Deidara asked them skeptically. It was odd to him why they'd be associating with them, seeing as they haven't talked to them the last few days. They stood before them nervously, Sakura was practically shaking inside. Shyly she shifted her feet not knowing how to start off their nearly impossible request.

"Well, you see, before we capture Naruto, there's something we want to do. And well, since you two are part of the team we have to get you to come," Sakura started nervously. She was uneasy asking this, her previous confidence gone. Her hands were tucked behind her back and she had her head shyly looking to the ground.

"That would be?" Itachi inquired.

"There's this scroll that switches any demon or spirit from one person to another, we'd like to find it," Riza spoke up helping her friend. Before they could say anything else she continued, "And take the Kyuubi from Naruto-kun. We'd use a criminal from Akatsuki's blacklist; kill two birds with one stone."

"I don't know why you would want to," Deidara stated.

"We have a lot of time before we actually have to get the Kyuubi to Leader. And we'd be killing off someone we need to kill anyways, so we won't have to do it later," Sakura tried to persuade them. The Uchiha stayed the same, but the artist's logic was wavering.

The blonde girl looked to him half pleadingly and he twitched. The girl may not be good for seduction, but the power of her 'cuteness' can be used to some cases, Sakura thought dryly. It surprised her how it was even working; he'd really fall for that? Apparently so. He turned his head and scowled. Thank you to Deidara being a gullible guy to the girl he held interest in.

"Not like it'll make a difference to me. Less work, do whatever you want," he admitted sourly. It nearly killed him to comply, but he did.

The girls silently enjoyed their victory, cheering inwardly. Sakura's hopes had risen, Deidara had agreed! Although as she had learned, as a shinobi never get your hopes up. How could she have forgotten, whatever can go wrong, will go wrong?

"No,"

They turned to the flat voice to find Itachi. His expression had not changed, but it was obvious he was irritated by the request. His voice was flat and cold, bringing their hopes back down. Inside the crestfallen girl broke down. She knew this would happen, why would she think he'd ever agree? It wasn't in his character at all, it wouldn't benefit him. And she was even beginning to think a little better of him too.

Not caring about the others, he turned around and swiftly walked away. The three only watched his retreating form speechlessly. Funny how one word could affect so much.

Deidara shrugged and looked at them in a pitying way, "Sorry, but I'm not going to try to convince him." With that he walked the opposite direction. His opinion never mattered, Sakura realized, it was all Itachi's. The artistic man wouldn't oppose to him out of the fact he was stronger and whatever he says goes. He most likely said okay to the idea to please Riza and perhaps attempt to sway Itachi, which was proven useless. It was clearly obvious who was in control.

_This was the end, huh? _The pink haired girl thought bitterly. All her work was going to end? No way, she had made a promise. Her head was turned down, a shadow covering her eyes. Fist clenched tightly, and her knuckles turning white. Riza moved to place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"No," she mumbled incoherently. Her shoulders shook from what Riza though to be sobs, but realized it was rage.

"Sakura-chan-" She was cut off as Sakura broke away and ran off towards Itachi's direction. She ran her hardest trying to find him and left Riza behind. The blonde merely watched as she took off, knowing she wouldn't be of any help at the moment. But Sakura was determined, she won't go down without a fight, Riza told herself. Once again she could wait for the outcome.

* * *

She wasn't sure at all where he had gone. There were many possibilities, back to the inn, a place to eat, training grounds, or just walking around in town. Either way she was going to find him and make him change his stubborn mind whether she did it by force or compromise. Of course, she knew both would be hard, the former wouldn't most likely work, but she would try. 

The desperate girl was running at full speed now. Her lungs felt as if they were going to burst from the lack of needed air. Wind blew in her face from the speed, proving difficult to concentrate in front of her. Still it didn't matter, she could make sacrifices, being uncomfortable was only a small price to pay. Vaguely she saw blurs of trees go past as she sped through the small forest. It was a shortcut to the inn and she needed all the time she could get.

Finally she reached the building and rushed in up the stairs and through the halls. People standing by looked at her oddly, wondering what the hurry was. If only they knew. But Sakura didn't have time for them and sped past. Slamming open the correct door she almost tripped through the doorway getting in.

At that moment she didn't know whether to be happy or not. For one she had just stubbed her toe in the process of stumbling through the doorway. It throbbed in pain but she managed to refrain from screaming out. On the other hand Itachi was indeed there. Over by the window sat the Uchiha who had been meditating moments before. Now he had turned his gaze towards the girl who was cursing and panting at the same time. Even for Uchiha Itachi, it was a very odd sight.

In a way it irked her to see him. He was sitting there with a brow raised, but hadn't moved an inch from his previous position. All in all he had a smug little aura around, like he was pleased at her current state.

Restraining her agitation she drew in a deep breath and sighed. Slowly she composed herself and turned around to close the door. When she had turned back around her face was solemn and serious, "There is something that I need to discuss with you."

"Yes?"

"Look Itachi-san," since when was she calling him by his first name? "We-I need to get that scroll. It's for a personal matter," she explained hoping to get through to him.

For a second he remained silent. It would seem he was weighing his options. Always calculating in the head, that was Itachi.

"For what reason would I have to oblige? I see no benefit for myself," he said coolly. He was not worried, if he ever was, about the outcome. In his mind he had determined each option and each possibility. And for everyone he had a way of countering it to satisfy himself. It was all about him, he did what he wanted not what others wanted him to. This was something Sakura quickly realized.

Inwardly she panicked. What was there she could do? Obviously from earlier he had no intention of pleasing Leader with the extra task of disposing of an enemy. She knew what she needed, something that would benefit for him. Nervously she swallowed, this action was not unseen by the man before her. Her breaths were shaky while her mind raced for any clue.

She then observed something peculiar. His eyes twitched. Usually this would be a normal thing, as if someone had just gotten a speck of dust in their eye. But in his case it made her remember something. The Sharingan, his bloodline trait he kept activated more than half the time, causes extreme pressure to the eyes. And just that simple movement reminded her, his eyes were deteriorating.

Emerald eyes widened in realization. A short intake of air filled her lungs in a small gasp of shock. She swallowed again, not quite believing she was willing to do this; that she was going to do this. Over and over she repeated in her head, _'For Naruto.'_

"I have a proposition."

A bit of amusement and curiosity was allowed onto his face. At the time being he let it show, it didn't matter if the girl saw he was capable of these simple emotions. No doubt it still shocked her.

"And what is it do you think I would agree to?" he asked. Mockery was hidden behind the words. A silent challenge. There were no indications of it in his tone, but she knew it all the same. He was testing her without a mention of it. _"Can you do it, Sakura? Can you persuade me?"_

"I'll heal your eyes," it was short and to the point. Clearly it got the message through. He was interested now. She knew this by only observing him, not many people knew this. Her professionalism as a medic was shown once again.

"I'm listening, Sakura-san. What exactly is your exchange?"

Taking a deep breath she prepared to explain, "I know your eyes are being damaged by the Sharingan," at this point she looked at hi sternly in his blood-red eyes, "and I can heal them. It might take a month or so, but I can guarantee your sight will be returned fully."

"Are you implying that I am going blind?" he asked with mild curiosity. He knew the answer for himself already. He only asked to hear her say it herself.

To his surprise she smirked at him. A gesture showing who was gaining the lead, that she held more confidence then she let on. Showing that she would not lose so easily in their elaborate game, "Yes I am Itachi-san, that's exactly it. From the look of it you may not have much time left. Of course I can not know until I see first hand myself," another hidden implication. _'I can rub it in your face when you let me check your eyes; you will let me look at them if you are smart.'_

His reply was a smirk of his own, _'smart girl'_ he thought. She was sure she had won. How could he refuse? This was something he would desperately need back, she told herself. But alas, she was stunned by his answer.

"As tempting as it is, I will decline," '_I win this time, girl',_"I will do fine with my sight is. There is no need to go on this petty quest, not even that offer will do."

With just those words her world came crashing down. It just wasn't possible, she was sure it'd work! But she what the hidden implication was. _'I will win, no matter the loss.' _The medic nodded slowly. It was hard to have all her efforts be smashed against her. She had tried so hard. But this was Uchiha Itachi. He was selfish, only doing tasks for himself; he would never help another human on whim. Even more so, he'd never lose. He had pride, too much.

"I see, then I shall take my leave." She almost whispered. With sluggish movements and a broken spirit she turned to leave. Sparing one last glance at the stubborn man she held her head high and exited the room with what was left of her pride.

* * *

He wasn't sure what it was that had amused him so. Was it that he had won over her persistence? Perhaps it was the way he broke her. Yes, that part was especially fun. It was unusually entertaining watching her actions, watching the various emotions flitter across her face. He received a surge of satisfaction when he saw she had been defeated, how her determination and happiness were smashed. It gave him a sense of dominance.

Itachi had to admit she was admirable. Her skills surpassed many in the medical field, perhaps she was almost the greatest. True her fighting skills lacked much, but it was obvious she was not made for fighting. Her nature was to help people; spare their lives not take them as he did. They were opposites in every way. And that may be why he was so entranced with her, because of the change of atmosphere. He liked how very different her excelled healing was different from his excelled murders, but in a way they were complementary to each other.

To say he was smitten would be inaccurate. To him it was a mere fascination. A new toy he had not broken, and intended to keep for a while. He knew she would watch him when she thought he didn't know. It was quite the opposite, he was well aware of it. He was very well aware that she was attracted to him. But he held no kind of lust or love towards her. As she was intelligent she was horribly naïve and ignorant.

Softly he chuckled, "Well little kunoichi, you have caught my interest. But it is I who will win." He gave her credit for not only giving him a hard debate, but also managing to enthrall him. For now he would keep an eye on her and continue to be amused. It was very rare for him to be interested in something, and the first time for it to be a woman.

* * *

The group met up at the cave of the waterfall at sunset. It was a brilliant mix of colors that still cast eerie shadows over the landscape. The sun was setting, making the forest surrounding them already dark. It had gotten colder with the drop of light and the chill from the cave was only increasing it. The sounds from the night setting were coming into place, the chirp of crickets and 'hoo's' of owls, but most of all a sound filled silence. 

Not only was the night cold and quiet, but the team was too. The tension was remarkably thick and noticeable. Neither of the blonde's wanted to interfere. So there they were, standing at the entrance waiting for orders that they all knew would come from Itachi. He had proven his superiority already and no one dared to defy it. Sakura expected him to say they would be headed to Konoha. That was where the Kyuubi was after all, and it was clear he wanted the job done as soon as possible.

Instead the appointed leader turned his head away from the group when he answered with a bored tone, "Riza and Deidara," they both looked up with attentive eyes, "you will track down and capture Munashii Obutsu located in Iwagakure. You have exactly two months before you will have to have him captured and bring him to Bird Country where Sakura and I will meet you there with the scroll."

Everyone looked to him with wide-eyes. Sakura couldn't believe her ears for two reasons. One, he was going to help her. For once he was doing a deed for another person. Two, he decided she will go with him while the other two are together. She would have thought he'd choose Deidara to accompany him but he wanted her.

"Sakura and I will travel to Stone Country where the Damaiyo is a high priest. There we can find the whereabouts of the scroll," he said it as if it were a simple thing. Like everyone else would have expected it. It was then Sakura caught the look he sent her and the hidden meaning that explained their partnership.

'_I have done my part, you will do yours. You will heal my eyes.'_

They both knew who had really won their game. Even though he had given in he was the winner. There was an invisible hold he now had over her. He was definitely going to have fun with her and at the same time she had a feeling something bad was bound to happen. Still she was content, even with her loss; she was going to be able to keep her promise.

The blonde's were left out again. They didn't understand what was going on between Itachi and Sakura, but they knew there was_something_ going on between them. Deidara inwardly snorted while observing the two, why did he have the dysfunctional team? He could only imagine what Zetsu and Madoka had to deal with. Riza gave him her own questioning glance and he responded with a roll of his eyes.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere, miles and miles away… 

"Tobi-senpai! Oh no! What should Hotaru do?" A small girl panicked frantically. She was hurriedly moving back and forth trying to decide what direction to go. On the ground was a man in a black cloak with familiar red clouds and on his face an even more familiar orange swirled mask, unconscious. The two were both in a forest of some sort, filled with what seemed to be exotic plants; one that happened to be in the knocked out man's hand.

"A-ah, it's okay Hotaru-chan," a male voice whispered weakly and immediately the girl stop panicking. She turned around and saw that Tobi had awakened and had one hand, the one with the plant, raised into the air.

"Tobi-senpai is alright!" Hotaru cheered. She happily bent down to help him up. At the same time she glanced at the plant in his hand. It was a peculiar red flower, one with ragged scarlet petals. For some reason the sight of it jogged her memory and she stopped to ponder it. Her face scrunched up in concentration and suddenly brightened in realization.

"Hey Senpai, isn't that the flower Zetsu-san said to never, ever touch?" she asked naively, and in mild disbelief. Zetsu had told them to collect a few herbs he needed, and told them to avoid that certain flower. Tobi being Tobi, decided to investigate why the little plant was supposed to be so dangerous. Thus he fell to the ground after breathing in the odor he was told not to.

The masked boy seemed to let it go to his head, "Well, Tobi the great was able to defeat it! And I can protect Hotaru-chan from the evil plants too!" he exclaimed proudly. Believing him with pure innocence, the girl's face turned completely serious and scrunched up. She clenched her fist and pulled them down quickly in front of her, "Yes!"

Unnoticed by the two, their teammates had found them, and now approaching. It was a peculiar sight a large plant-like man and a young woman walking next to him not dazed at all by her companion. The younger of the four looked up at dropped their adventure.

"Tobi, I told you not to touch that flower, it contains pollen that knocks a person out in a second," Zetsu's white side said politely and calmly. Tobi and Hotaru lowered their heads in shame for being caught. Then his black side commented in a harsh gruff voice, "Even easier to be killed by." Hotaru's eyes widened, most likely Tobi's also but it was unseen by his vibrant orange mask.

"Tobi, Hotaru, you are not to play around," Madoka commanded softly, "Have you found the necessary herbs you were sent for?"

The two brightened, seeing that they had at least done one thing right. The pig-tailed girl bounced up and showed the green plants to them, "Here they are!"

Zetsu nodded in approval. Again Hotaru and Tobi beamed, they were able to please their senpai. As the group retreated back to their quarters the more mature two watched the younger playing and frolicking. It seemed the most quiet and mature had been paired up with the two most naïve and childish. Perhaps it was so they keep them under control. But to them, or at least Zetsu's black side, it only felt like babysitting. Theirs was an interesting team indeed.

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**Again, I cannot believe all the reviews! Thank you guys so much! **

**Alright after tons of research I found out that I had lucked out with the scroll thing. I needed a country off to the border so I chose Earth country. What Itachi said is true; I looked it all up after hours of frustrating research (I now hate Wikipedia) There is a country called the Stone Country that the area in unspecified, so I am choosing it to be in Earth country. It is a village that is indeed run by a priest; see how I lucked out with the legend thing? I have the link on my profile to where I got my information, my new favorite site for that stuff.  
**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**C-Chan**


	11. Traveling

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto,Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. **

**I give you all permission to kill me now. I'm terribly sorry for the delay, I'm a horrible authoress, I know. Anyways there is a bit of ItaSaku! So enjoy the chapter! Also thanks so much to my beta HikariAdams for looking over the chapter for me!  
**

* * *

It had been a little over a day and already Sakura wanted to die, or at least permanently disappear. For the past several hours (how many she was not sure since she had grown bored and lost count somewhere around four) all she had seen were trees. Deep green leaves and thick brown trunks, one after another in no pattern whatsoever. Not only was it dull to see the same sight for a long amount of time, the trees blocked the sunlight making the atmosphere darker and drearier than it already was.

Really in estimation they had departed from their two comrades around seven PM and traveled until around midnight. From there they set up an awkward not-so-really camp that consisted of a small fire, two blankets, and themselves. Around six in the morning they set off once again and many hours had passed since then. To make it worse, the little talk that she had shared with Itachi was not that enjoyable, seeing as he had told her they'd be lucky to make it _into_ Earth country by the next day. Crossing Earth Country was another story, another very, _very_ long story and journey.

Silently she walked along side her impassive comrade. Every so often she'd steal small glances at him for reasons unknown to her. It was probably out of uneasiness, making sure he wouldn't leave her behind. While she walked tensely and uncomfortably, occasionally adjusting and fidgeting with her black and blue uniform, he was calm as ever and not even sparing her a glance. She traced his face in her mind, studying every feature absent-mindedly. As soon as she went over the odd lines on either side of his nose she was caught.

Itachi turned his head to her. His eyes were accusing, he didn't even have to ask what she was doing. Holding back a squeak, she slightly jumped and changed her line of vision. The pink covering her face was seen by both her and Itachi, much to her displeasure. She knew somewhere in his twisted mind he was mocking her, and maybe perhaps even inwardly laughing. He may not show it on the outside, but who knows what went on inside.

The flustered girl tried to stop scolding herself for looking like a fool. It would seem she had been doing that lately when she was around him. But as she tried to distract herself her mind wandered to the topic of what _does_ go on inside his head.

Already it was clear he was no saint; that was one of the most well known facts anyone would know. When she thought about it, he wasn't particularly evil. She would never say he was misunderstood; there was no way to justify any of what he had done. To her now, he was just more of a person who would do anything for himself, regardless of its morality. Perhaps when he killed his family, it was not out of sadism, but some kind of gain for himself. She would like to think he didn't do the crimes for the sake of being evil, but for his own sake and they just happened to be evil. From what had happened with their deal she knew one thing for sure: he hated to lose, or more precisely, would not lose no matter cost.

Mentally she scoffed at herself. Look at her now, trying to justify Uchiha Itachi.

She had not even realized she had gone back to staring at said man until he spoke, "If you are in need of something, I would prefer you to ask instead of ogling."

She choked over her stuttered words, "I-I was not _ogling!_ I was only spacing out, I didn't know where I was looking!" she objected loudly. The noise was apparently louder than she intended, because at that moment a few birds hurriedly flew out of the trees surrounding them squawking. His eyes followed the feathered animals lightly then turned back to her.

"Is that so?"

Sakura could only swallow and hold back any other comments. She jerked her head slightly to the side to show her frustration and stayed quiet. All the while she never noticed the small smirk making its way to the Uchiha's face.

He was right to bring her along, he thought with satisfaction. The little kunoichi was proving to be quite amusing just like he had intended. When she had confronted him for her side, he had known she'd be fun, and oh was he right. It was not easy to catch the interest of Uchiha Itachi. And yet this girl, only famous for her title as the Godaime's apprentice, had succeeded with small gestures like she had shown the past hours of stealing small peeks at him. He had watched her nervousness through the corner of his eye, taking it all in with amusement.

What was even better to him was that embarrassed look of hers when he'd found her staring or spacing out. More and more he was enjoying the reaction he got when he added in comments to increase the mortification. It was like a child with a new toy, trying everything to see what it could do. Only the difference was that he hoped she'd last long before she broke. He didn't want to lose this new experience by just throwing it away, besides he wasn't bored with it _yet_. Even then he'd maybe keep her a souvenir of his fun when he got bored, or maybe she'd never lose her entertaining qualities.

He would perhaps claim this intriguing creature for himself one day. At the moment he just wanted to watch. Quietly, too quiet for her to hear, he chuckled. Their leader's plans had already become clear to him; he knew they were being used as pawns to their success. And at the same time she had no idea, and now he was using her again without even knowing it. So in reality he could have her anytime he wanted, it went along with the secret plans of the ultimate shinobi. But he still had no intention of using her as anything other than entertainment. Then again that only applied for the time being.

Both of them, one not afraid to show it, the other inwardly, felt relief when they saw a break in the trees. Finally after the repetition of the tall green plants there was a different sight. Luckily for them, where the trees ended was indeed civilization. It appeared to be a small, unnamed village, most likely without shinobi. That was good for them. As they walked closer they saw more details to the village. There were small, nothing extravagant cottages with wooded roofs and stone walls. Wooden fences adorned the dirt path leading into the village; a few chickens pecked on the pathway, not restrained to cages. Fields of fresh green plants and brown soil were a common sight next to the houses. All in all it just was a tiny farming village.

Sakura's face lit up at the mere sight with a bright smile. Turning to Itachi she realized they weren't in the best of shape. Their clothes were dirty and she could feel the grime in her hair. It was then decided that a shower was mandatory.

"Do you know where we are?" she asked hoping he would, but not really caring since she was once again reunited to something at least concerning people and not trees.

He paused thinking for a moment, "No, but we can find out in the village," at this she began to walk but was held back, "this village obviously doesn't have any shinobi, we will need a disguise."

Her pink eyebrows furrowed, "Oh," she waited a second, "why can't we just be travelers? They'd believe that right?" to her it made sense. Many people traveled around either as tourists or merchants.

"No, we should be in Earth by now. It's likely they'd be suspicious of any random travelers. It would be best if we had a disguise as civilians," he explained. She winced at his words, he was right. Earth country and its Kage were known for being slightly paranoid, especially since it did not have many allies. So it would be likely for any travelers without a reason that seemed civilian like would be inspected.

"Alright, then what do you suggest?" she sighed.

"We will go as a married couple passing through to visit your ill mother in the Stone Village."

That had thrown her back. Sure, she wasn't actually going to be married to him, but still pretending was bad enough. And as much as she wanted to object, it was probably their best option.

"Fine, what are our names?" she replied reluctantly. It had taken all her willpower to agree to it. After all, she could endure it for Naruto.

Her answer had surprised him. He had expected an outburst from the short-tempered girl. The only reason he had used the married couple instead of relatives was to see her reaction. It displeased him that he didn't get the amusing response he wanted.

"You will be Hasaki Koizumi, while I am Hasaki Reiji," he informed her with slight irritation. With that said and done they proceeded to walk into the village. The conditions were degraded in her mind a little when she saw a small child with brown hair playing in the dirt. His clothes too big and torn, and covered with dirt. Still he had a wide grin on his face.

Her green eyes softened. He was so innocent and oblivious to the world surrounding him. He probably didn't even know that the condition he was living was considered bad. The child had a look of naivety she used to have, before her career as a shinobi. In a way she wished he would be able to hold onto that, but deep down she knew it'd be impossible as he grew older. Still, sights like those reminded her of why she became a medic.

As she was in her sentimental world, Itachi was analyzing the village and plans. They'd have to buy new clothes, at least for traveling that is. Neither was allowed to change out of their uniforms. It showed their identities, where their loyalties lie. But at that particular time, it would only cause a burden. Being inconspicuous was the key. A henge would not work, so that only left the option of new clothing so that they would not be recognized.

Itachi began walking to what seemed to be a clothing shop. It was a small building made of thin wood of no better quality than the rest of the village. Only after he was a few yards away had Sakura realized she was being left behind. She made a small startled noise and tripped over her feet to catch up. Quickly she regained her pace and trailed silently after him.

Wordlessly he brought them into the small shop. Racks of multiple types of clothing adorned the walls and floor. They were all very dull colors of grays, blacks, tans, and so forth. At the far left was a stand with an elderly man contently going about his business.

The medic looked to her companion and he nodded before walking further into the store to pick clothing of his own. With a slight scowl, she began looking through all the clothes. None were as bright of colors she wanted, the kind of colors she was used to. Even the Akatsuki's cloaks were more lively then these, she thought dryly. After several minutes of searching for a half-decent outfit, she came across a white top and thanked the heavens.

It was probably the brightest thing they had, so she quickly swiped it up and pressed it against her form. The shirt was a bit big, but she could make do. She knew the more they traveled the colder it would get, so she was glad to see it was a thick material and long sleeved. The collar slightly dipped, but that was the least of her worries.

She decided to go with a pair of simple black pants that would still be easy to move in. Thankfully they fit just right and looked fine with the shirt. Content with her findings, she strode up to the counter to see Itachi waiting for her. He held his own clothing lazily with one hand. It was all black. Should have known, she told herself inwardly.

They placed the clothing on the counter and the old man looked up with a smile. He examined the outfits for a price tag and then wrote something down on a piece of paper. Sakura didn't hear how much it cost, but apparently Itachi did and pulled out the exact amount handing it to the man. He nodded once more and picked up their purchases, proceeding to exit the shop. He then led them to the edge of the village where it was covered with bushes and brush.

Itachi pulled the white and black fabrics that made up her outfit and handed to her. Hesitantly she took them and walked to a bush to conceal herself. Even though she was very happy to get out of her previous clothes, she still yearned for a shower. A lake or pond would be good enough at this point, she thought grimly. Pulling her head out through the larger hole in the shirt she looked down to see it fit slightly large as she had predicted. With a shrug she gathered the Aotsuki uniform and headed back.

Her impassive comrade was already done and waiting. She wondered if he was faster than her at everything.

"What do we do with the uniforms?" she asked motioning to the bundles of black.

"Carry them with us, we will buy a bag to place them in shortly," he replied simply.

They stepped out of the brush and she saw a small smirk adorn his face, "Just what is so amusing?"

He cleared his face of all emotions, "Nothing Koizumi-chan"

It then struck her that they now had to play the roles of their disguises. The kunoichi groaned and grudgingly slumped her shoulders in defeat. Somewhere she corrected herself in her analysis of Itachi. He had to be sadistic; otherwise he would not seem to be enjoying her misery that much.

As much as she hated the arrangement she would admit that it was efficient. Not one of the many people they passed suspected a thing. The two looked like a normal couple, his hand loosely holding hers as if it were habit. Nor did anyone seem to notice the discomfort in her eyes as she plastered a fake smile on her face. The smile fooled almost anyone, she remembered, Sai was the one to point it out as he knew from his own.

All the sudden his grip on her hand tightened for a moment. It was a signal something was wrong.

"Ah, it would seem there's a storm coming," he said mildly. For a moment she couldn't understand what he meant, but then she realized what he was doing. He was speaking in a code to keep their cover. What he meant was, '_There is an enemy squad nearby that may be coming.'_

She played along, "Reiji-kun, it's so nice out here, what are you talking about?"

'_Where are they? I don't sense anyone'_

He shook his head, "You can slightly tell by the change of color in the sky towards the west."

'_There was a change of chakra patterns. They're coming from the west end of town.'_

She furrowed her eyebrows at the news. He does live up to the title he earned himself. "Well, where do we need to go to avoid the storm?" she smiled lightly as if she then saw her husband's logic.

'_Where do we go to avoid the nin?'_

"We can still enjoy our vacation, but we should take cover soon. Although I heard the inns in the west areas are of lesser quality than the eastern."

'_We will keep our disguise as the couple up. We need to lay low somewhere, but not towards the western area where they are.' _

"But we just got here. I wanted to see more of the town before we moved to another inn." _'We just got here; I want to get cleaned up first!' _She was slightly irritated. After so much travel their chances of resting were now gone and they must travel again.

Itachi looked to her with a stern expression, "I know you'd like to, but it'd be better so we can avoid the storm. Besides it should only take another few days to see your mother if we move now."

'_We need to avoid the shinobi. It will take less time to get to the scroll if we move now.'_

A truly disappointed look covered her face, but she sighed and shook it off with, "Whatever you say Danna, you know best after all."

'_Apparently you know what to do, so go ahead and take the lead.'_

He leaned closer to her with a smile only for show, "That is why I'm your husband. You're so carefree I have to watch out for you."

'_That is why I'm your partner. Otherwise you would have no chance in this mission. '_

He just insulted her! Although she was fuming inwardly she latched onto his arm with an iron grip that would be quite painful to most and smiled back, "Of course." What she really meant, and she knew he knew, was _'Screw you!'_

Grudgingly she complied and they began towards the east end of the village. As they traveled it seemed like Itachi kept his guard up the entire time. Sakura had managed to faintly pick up the chakra trace that her partner had previously pointed out. Though it was odd, he said the enemy was in the west and yet she could feel a separate one towards the east. Could it be that Itachi had been wrong? Or was it that it was a set up? She didn't know, but she felt around to reassure that she had not left behind her kunai when changing.

It was when he stopped again that she knew something had gone wrong with his plan. It was then that the faint chakra signature grew more prominent. Worriedly, she glanced around in search of danger until a slender hand gripped her shoulder. Turning her head she saw his piercing gaze.

"It would seem we were seen before. They had us surrounded the second we entered the village," he explained in a low tone. She saw him pull out a kunai of his own and knew they had no option but to fight.

In one swift movement, the hand on her shoulder was gone and flicking a kunai towards the trees. For a moment nothing happened as she watched tensely. Only a second later a barrage of shuriken was sent flying towards them. Both the partners jumped out of the way in the nick of time. When the medic-nin looked up she saw three shinobi. All were dressed in simple black cloaks and white masks. The one in the middle stepped forward, showing leadership over the others.

"Itachi Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, both listed as S-ranked missing-nin in the bingo book. We have direct orders from the Tsuchikage himself to terminate you two if we saw any sightings."

That could be bad, Sakura thought, if the Tsuchikage was aware of them already. It could just be this squad, and from what he said it sounded as if it was. Meaning they would have to be killed to keep information from leaking. She realized their appearances were quite well known in the shinobi world, which could cause some complications as it had already proven.

"There's more of them…five in all," he mentioned to her calmly. She nodded stiffly and prepared for any attacks. She then slid her feet to give herself a defensive position, the dirt being kicked up as her feet moved.

The battle started at once when one of the shinobi drew a katana and charged straight out. It wasn't particularly the smartest move, Sakura thought dryly. He charged at Itachi, perhaps hoping to catch him off guard and stab him. Unfortunately for him, Itachi was already behind him, stabbing him in the back gracefully only to have a puff of smoke greet his weapon.

Sakura gasped at the sight and turned around sharply to see him charging at her. From the corner of her eye, she saw the other two attacking Itachi head on. She pulled out her kunai and leapt backwards, landing on her feet, still in stance. Holding out the kunai in defense, she waited for his next move. Once again he ran at her with his katana.

She ran at him as well; ready to block his sword with her considerably smaller knife. One hit from her was all it would take, and she knew this, but how to set it up? The metals clashed with a clink as they collided. Shifting her legs while applying force against his sword, she managed to slide over to the side, their weapons disconnecting and his katana hitting nothing but air. She gathered the chakra in her hand, using the same medical technique she had seen Kabuto fight with so many times before, and jabbed him in the back.

The technique was a success. He fell to the ground limp and she silently indulged in her victory. That was until a kunai whizzed passed her face. Before she could make sense of the situation she was grabbed around the waist and moved from her original spot where an exploding tag attached to the kunai went off. She then realized that Itachi had come to her aid, leaving his own battle to keep her alive.

"You need to be alert," he whispered and let her go. She felt foolish. Even after all her training, her teammate still had to go and save her.

"Yes," she replied softly.

Glancing over she saw that two shinobi were bloodily slain aside from her kill. According to Itachi there were only two left, of which one was already in combat with Itachi. She noticed she was to in thought to see that he had left her side.

A punch from behind her caught her attention and she ducked only to be on the receiving end of a kick. She was knocked over, but stayed lying down until she knew her enemy was close. As he was cautiously observing her seemingly unconscious body, she sprung up with a chakra-enhanced punch to his jaw. Wiping some blood from her mouth, she stood up only to be pulled back with an arm around her neck.

The kunoichi gasped and struggled but stopped when feeling the cool surface of the kunai blade meet her skin. She froze and saw the shinobi Itachi had been fighting standing smugly a few feet away. Itachi himself was standing only a few feet away, most likely contemplating how to save her once again.

The enemy nin snickered, "What now? I can kill her at any moment. I suggest you surrender or my clone will have to slit that pretty little neck of hers," at that the grip around her neck tightened, "Wouldn't want that to happen would we?"

Her head was racing, would Itachi save her? She felt so weak having to be rescued again. Silently she promised if she made it out of this she would be the one to save Itachi in a fight.

The Uchiha was still unnerved by this. He merely looked to him and paused. With a slight trace of a smirk, he looked his opponent in the eye with crimson orbs adorned with a black pinwheel. From Sakura's view, all it looked like was that they had stopped. Then the next moment the shinobi went wide eyed and dropped to the ground, clutching his head. Following after, the Akatsuki member stabbed him with a simple kunai and let death rule over.

The pink haired kunoichi was freed with the poof of smoke. She stumbled slightly, but landed on her feet. Slowly she walked over to Itachi and noticed a small gash on his forearm. It was a small mark that could probably be left alone, but instead she gently pressed her hand against it and let her hand glow a soothing green. He watched with mild interest as she voluntarily healed his wound.

"Thanks," she mumbled, "for saving me…twice that is."

He paid no heed to her thanks but instead informed her, "It would be best if we began moving now and got away from the area as soon as possible. It would be a hindrance to let Earth Country know we're here."

"Yes," she said.

"Also," he started and gained her full attention, "I would like you to follow through with your end of the deal as soon as possible. Considering the fact that I must have just damaged my eyesight even more by using Mangekyou."

She nodded remembering the deal. He was right, that must have been hard on his eyes, and now she would need to heal the damage she had forced him to inflict. Somewhere in the back of her mind she noticed that he seemed to be talking to her more, even if it was only about mission issues.

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**I'm going to say the next update probably won't be too soon unfortunately. I have many things going on and also might go back and re-write the first few chapters because they are so horribly written. So I apologize in advance and am grateful to all my patient and loyal readers! Again I'm astonished by all the reviews and would like to say thanks to everyone whose read and reviewed! **

**Banira **


	12. Saving a Lost Cause

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters portrayed here.**

**Finally, an update!! I know, it's been way too long, but I have no plans to abandon this story. However, looking back on it makes me cringe still. Oh well, I'm still in the process of cleaning it up and whatnot. Never again will I be using OC's like this. Do let me know if I'm giving them too much of a part, although I don't think that Riza will make an appearance until after the next chapter.

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The sun was beginning to set by the time they found another village to take rest in. They'd been traveling since having been attacked, and Sakura was in utter joy at seeing a place to rest. Her feet were starting to become sore, even with the bursts of chakra she sent to her muscles to try and relieve a bit of the aches.

Although she had started to become at ease in the silence during the time she'd spent with the elder Uchiha, she was still a rather social creature that needed to be able to communicate. Unfortunately, Itachi was the only one that she knew of for miles considering that the new area they had arrived in spoke a completely different and unintelligible language. And the few that could make out words in her language carried a heavy accent; reminiscent to what she had heard in some the northern nations.

Thus, as they walked through the streets, her emerald eyes kept flitting to the side, looking at her companion with hesitation. Venders and shops were then starting to switch on dull lights that flickered over them as they passed. She wanted so very much to make conversation with anyone, even Itachi at this point. It wasn't that she was apprehensive around him as she once was, which she had thankfully overcome her fright whenever he would merely make a glance at her, but it would be foolish to think that he'd engage in casual vocal communication.

"As I have mentioned, if you have something to say, then I'd prefer you to voice it," a cool voice commented before adding with, what looked like to her, a smug smirk, "Sakura."

The aforementioned girl jumped, quickly jerking her head to look at him. Whether it was out of alarm that he actually spoke, because that itself was a rare occasion, or that he had discovered her fidgeting, she wasn't sure, but either way something about it irked her.

She tilted her head, biting her lip slightly, "It's nothing," she drawled in a tone that clearly stated that it wasn't nothing as she claimed.

Obviously, Itachi caught it, and would have none of that.

"Kunoichi."

Back to general titles it was then. She would have to guess that he was not very pleased.

"I don't like the silence," she admitted, quick to blurt it out. It was then, the way his face barely changed but practically radiated of superiority, arrogance, and perhaps even amusement, that she frowned but quickly forced a smile to hide the way her blood was boiling.

Sakura had a feeling that by now, even though she tried her best to remain the calm and sweet girl she was taught to be, both she and Itachi knew she was bluffing. He'd seen her show her true colors, how quickly irritable and violent she was. At this point, she was fooling no one by merely acting out of habit for show and politeness.

Silence hung between them, while noises of the night and natives filled the void instead. Idly, Sakura observed that they were very loud people and that when they spoke it sounded like they were choking on something rather unpleasant. Otherwise, she noticed that instead of the shops closing at that time of night, several seemed to be opening and preparing for the night life.

She felt his gaze return to her and she involuntarily shivered. It was just the chilly air, of course, she convinced herself, not that his eyes were that piercing. She sniffed and wrapped her arms around herself as if to confirm that.

"You will be working on my sight tonight, correct?"

It sounded more like a statement than a question, but she nodded nonetheless, "That's what I had planned to do. I'll need to analyze the damage, but we have the entire night so I can possibly begin the healing as well."

Before she let herself continue, she paused abruptly in realization that she was indeed rambling. It felt so relieving and familiar to speak again, even in the confines of business, that she couldn't help it. Only a moment later did it dawn on her that her quiet companion had started the conversation. Was it for her sake? She did mention that she didn't like the silence. Her eyes softened, holding back a genuine smile that would surely make her look foolish at the small act of kindness.

While regaining her composure, the pinkette looked over to see him nodding. His eyes were looking at something far away, most likely in thought. That one sentence was enough for her; she wouldn't push him to say anything more and trotted beside him with a lighter air. Her mood had considerably brightened, which he seemed to take slight notice to but didn't particularly acknowledge.

It was more comfortable between them until they stopped at a decent looking inn. She was nearly reluctant to ruin the peace between them, but let Itachi step forward and drop a rather large sum of money on the desk.

The man behind it, whom she presumed to be the inn keeper, was a short and bald old man wearing a something purple that might have been a yukata. He eyed it skeptically, picking up a coin and examining it for a brief moment before nodding and handing him a key in return.

Apparently, their money was different from that region's, but at least it hadn't been rejected.

Sakura followed Itachi to their room, who had taken off as soon as the key was in hand. She flinched when the wood creaked under her steps, wondering if it was really as nice as she had imagined it to be. It was a more traditional building, and an older one at that. However, she was pleased when she saw the room. It wasn't dirty or trashed, although it was simple.

The floors were wooden and a bit worn, while the walls were a plain white. There was only one bed and a small table beside it of the same light colored wood as the floor. On the farthest wall was a window with a nice view of the town. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it would do for the night. Shinobi didn't need extravagant quarters anyways, she reminded herself.

"You don't seem to be bothered by there being one bed," Itachi said in that low, observing tone of his.

Sakura shrugged; surprised that he had even pointed that out, "I don't really care at this point. We're partners, right?"

She watched him nod again, his eyes seeming to be ever calculating and thinking over this new piece of information. He was constantly plotting and evaluating her actions, she had realized this already. She was becoming used to his habits and attitude though, so she wasn't bothered by it as much.

When the medic had looked up again, her eyes were caught not in the crimson pools he had become accustomed to, but in smoldering black orbs watching her every movement. He had already taken a seat on the bed, unusually stiff and strained. His eyes twitched, as if holding back a pained expression.

Although her breath had caught in her throat, momentarily mesmerized by the sheer appearance of him without his deadly Sharingan, she managed to move forward and accompany him on the bed. Gently, her hand moved to rest on his temple, not shying away when he flinched at the contact. Her gaze was soft, the medic in her showing in her apathetic movements.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" she asked quietly. It was odd to her to think he was living with that excruciating pain every day without her really taking notice to it. He had always simply been Itachi, whom she had that odd relationship with. This made her wonder, what really did he feel and think? She wanted to know him, how he perceived the world and handled the weight of his eyes deteriorating and the Akatsuki all in one.

"Yes," he bit out through gritted teeth.

It was time to do her job, to be the medic who saved countless lives. She would rescue him from this pain, she told herself. "Is it as bad with your Sharingan on?"

He shook his head, "The pain is dulled when I have my Sharingan activated, one of the reasons it I rarely allow it to fade away."

Furrowing her brows, she nodded, storing away this data mentally. Basically, what she was getting was that to bear the pain he had to use his Sharingan which in turn damaged his sight even more. Either way, he would lose.

"I'm going to send in some chakra now, ok?" she told him as she did so, "It should help the pain, and I'll be able to see what's going on."

Throughout her career, she had often been told that her chakra was like a soothing trickling of water, erasing any source of discomfort as it passed. This proved true as she felt the Uchiha relax under her touch as she eased away the pain.

A scowl came to her face as she took in the damage. It was worse than she had thought; a complete mess in there really. She wondered how he was still able to see anything at this point. There were damaged nerves and cells everywhere, with his chakra connections faintly beginning to fray.

"Turn on your Sharingan for me," she instructed. When he did so, she was completely intrigued. It was so interesting, to see firsthand how it all worked. The chakra sparked to life, traveling through damaged pathways and strained nerves. She could see that not all of it was getting to the destination though, and was spouting off in chaos. He was being destroyed from the inside.

Frowning, she pushed a little more chakra in, "Turn it off for me now."

Everything calmed down once he complied, and she prodded around with her chakra for further inspection a little while longer. After a good half and hour of observations on her part, she removed her hands, prepared to share the results.

"You're going blind," she stated, although she knew that he was already well aware of this, "I can fix your Sharingan and fix the pain, however," she trailed off quietly, "You're optical nerves have already been severely damaged, and not even I can restore them back fully. It'll be better, but your vision isn't going to be perfect."

He nodded, a hesitant air surrounding them, "Very well."

Did he feel disappointment, she wondered, was he hiding it?

She brushed the thoughts aside, folding her hands neatly in her lap, "It'll take a few weeks of work, and it's a gradual process. And even then, if you continue to use your Sharingan, it'll need to be repaired later in life again."

A moment of silence passed between them. Sakura shifted uncomfortably, lacing her thin fingers together. She couldn't help but wonder if he was disappointed with her, that this would qualify as not keeping up her end of the deal.

"Will you begin healing tonight?"

The pinkette paused, rolling the question around in her mind, "I can," she started, "But you'll need to wait a full day before using it again or else my work will just be undone. I'll need to work every other day like that."

From what she understood, they would be reaching the Stone Village tomorrow where they would find the scroll. Really, it would be best to start the healing as soon as possible, but without Itachi's Sharingan for the main event of their trip, she wondered how that would work out. He was a capable ninja though, she reassured herself, even if he wouldn't be able to see nearly anything.

She took her companion's silence to be an agreement and continued, "Don't expect to see results after just this session. This is mostly prep work, but important all the same."

Placing her hands back on his temples, her touch instinctively gentle as her medical mindset kicked in again, the kunoichi leaned in a bit closer to whisper, "This is going to hurt."

She didn't give him anytime to prepare after her warning, and immediately began forcing her chakra into his nerves. This was much different from the soothing procedure she had done before, that was merely a check up. If she wanted the job done right, she had to do what was necessary which included some painful experiences. These were sensitive areas, and already damaged at that, so it was to be expected.

Itachi grimaced under her touch, his eyes squinting shut. The pain shot through his head as if needles were being sewn into it. He had experienced worse, much worse, and would be able to hold still and bear it.

Sakura continued with this for several hours, her face placid with concentration. Once she deemed her work enough for one night, she wearily removed her fingers. That had drained a decent amount of her chakra, and she was honestly exhausted. Glancing at the Uchiha's face, she wasn't surprised to see signs of fatigue. Enduring the pain must have taken a lot of out of him as well. As good of a shinobi as he was, he was still human.

His eyes slowly reopened; those dark raven eyes of his looking at her with something she couldn't quite place. They weren't warm, still calculating as ever. Even as the gaze sent a shiver down her spine, she still thought that they were beautiful. Long lashes concealed them partly, fluttering like a butterfly's wing after a moment. Traces of strain were still evident, but she knew that she made the pain a little more bearable.

"That's enough for tonight. Don't use your Sharingan until tomorrow evening," she instructed with a soft voice. It came out much more meek than usual, as if it were a calming storm.

Sakura squirmed her way onto a portion of the bed, her back facing him. The pillow was so delightfully comfortable under her head, and she breathed a sigh of contentment. She stretched her muscles, hearing a few pops following before she settled into a position on her side.

She felt the bed dip on the other side, knowing that Itachi was taking his place. There was a good distance between them, and even with that Sakura didn't seem to mind as much. She knew now that he wasn't going to harm her, and that enough made her at ease. Emeralds were concealed as she closed her eyes, her body relaxing. Her mind, however, was still at work. She went over some of the medical information that dealt with his eyes, deciding what would need to be done next. Most the painful procedures were over with, and dealing with the discomfort would need to be done next. Now that she ripped apart and reconnected several things, his eyes were now ready for the actual healing process.

Sleep became heavy on her mind, lulling her softly to a hazy darkness. As a last thought she managed to utter quietly, "Goodnight, Itachi-san."

As her mind fell into the temptations of sleep, she faintly took notice to the smooth voice that responded with a polite goodnight, pausing before adding, "Thank you."

Too far into unconsciousness to really take notice, she didn't respond. Perhaps she would recall it for a later day, but a small smile was the only acknowledgment of the gratitude he showed. It was nice to know that he did value gratitude, and this information was one of the things she was slowly but surely learning about him. If she wasn't mistaken, he seemed like he would rather avoid any unnecessary disputes, which she had precariously judged falsely beforehand.

Maybe Uchiha Itachi just wasn't all that bad.

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**Thanks for reading and for sticking with me this long! Reviews give me that silly grin for the rest of the day, and honestly are what inspired me to get this finished.**


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